DBV's The Black Cauldron
by Darth Ben Valor
Summary: Fanmake of Disney's forgotten classic, The Black Cauldron. When a boy named Link learns of a lost artifact called the Black Cauldron, it becomes a race to find it before the Skeleton King can do so and bring alive his army of the undead. R&R.
1. Life in Cambridge

Hi, guys! Sorry for the lack of activity here lately. I was……… detained, sort of. Been busy with my senior year in High School, which I recently graduated from about……. Erm…. Months ago. Not to mention busy with college. Now, where was I? Oh, yes! I am now starting on a new fanmake; this one'll be a keeper, and this one's of a probably literally forgotten classic. The one, the only…….. THE BLACK CAULDRON!!!

Naruto: I thought you were gonna wait to do this one?

Me: True, Naruto, but I can't help but feel like starting it off now. I really am dying to! Now, enjoy! And remember: Whatever you see in this story, it doesn't belong to me.

**DBV's The Black Cauldron**

**Prologue**

Legend tells of a very evil king in the land of Narnia. In fact, he was so evil and so cruel, that even the gods had feared him. Since not even the strongest of strongholds of prisons could hold him, the evil king was tossed into a crucible of molten iron.

From there, the demonic spirit of the ever-so-evil king had been trapped in the form of a great black cauldron.

Ever since, after hearing of the cauldron's power, many sorcerers and evil men alike had searched for this special artifact. Whoever possessed control of the cauldron would be able to raise an army of the undead, and, with them, rule the world……..

--------------------------

**Chapter 1**

**Life in Cambridge**

Five centuries later, the land of Narnia had been peaceful. Man, animal and beast had lived together in harmony ever since the day the evil king had been sealed for eternity in the black cauldron. And things had been even better ever since the two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve had come along twice to the land and brought peace and prosperity to the land, with the help of the great lion, Aslan.

However, a new king- an even more evil and cruel king- known as the Skeleton King had recently come to power. The only good thing? He had been in hiding. But still, he had been searching for something during his reign. No one knew what he had been searching for; all they knew was that he was searching for something.

Now then, in the luscious countryside of Cambridge, there resided a farm where a wise old figure lived. He was not only a great philosopher, but an excellent kung fu master as well. His study area, along with the rest of his home, was usually kept all neat and tidy. Lying on a dresser was a lazy fat cat named Garfield, obviously the pet of the cottage's owner.

Right now, the philosopher in question- Master Shifu- was sitting at his messy desk, looking carefully through his research. He was a short and plump anthropomorphic red panda with a braided goatee and a long thin moustache. His usual attire consisted of kung fu master's robes that were red in color and brown sandals. Usually, the red panda was a calm and wise old creature. But right now, how could he feel calm when dark forces were at work somewhere?

"Something is wrong. I can feel it in my bones," Said the wise old red panda in worry. "Even the Looney Tunes know of it, and they're nowhere to be seen."

Garfield stretched as he woke up from his nap and he yawned, "Man, I hate Mondays." He walked towards his master's desk, and spoke up. "Hey, Shifu. I'm hungry."

Not listening, Shifu continued to grumble. "The Skeleton King. That heartless demon!" He said, shaking his head as he got up. "What could he possibly be waiting for?"

The wise kung fu master/philosopher's cat came up in front of him, still trying to get his attention. "Hello? What do I gotta do, bark like Lassie? I'm starving here!"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Shifu turned his attention to Garfield.

"Yes, I know you want your breakfast, Garfield," said Shifu to his feline friend, "but thinking's more important right now."

It was then that the red panda heard the rattling of a pot, and turned towards the oven. Hanging above a little fire in there was a pot that started to boil over with whatever seemed to be cooking inside of the pot.

"Oh, Li- Link! The pot's boiling over, Link!" Shifu called out, turning his gaze towards a boy, who seemed to be gazing out the window and staring into space.

The boy- known as Link, Shifu's foster son- snapped back into reality after Shifu called his name. Link was just daydreaming his favorite daydream; a dream of him becoming a famous warrior in battle. However, he had to remember that he was still an assistant chao keeper.

Now, despite his size, Link was fourteen years in age, but was a bit of a daydreamer for a boy his age. He usually had a slightly spiky yet tame and slightly long hairstyle that was blond, and his eyes were a dark brown. The attire he usually wore was his most favorite attire to wear; consisting of a green vest with a lime green shirt underneath, a brown belt with a round brass buckle, white breeches and brown boots. Along with this outfit, he would occasionally wear a green pointed hat, but right now, he wasn't.

"Oh, sorry, Shifu. I was just thinking," said Link, stepping over towards the oven. "What if the war's finally ended, and I never had my chance to even fight?"

"And that'd be a good thing, too." Shifu responded, going back over to his desk to continue his research, "War is no game. People actually die in battle."

Frowning at this, Link reached towards the pot. "Oh, c'mon! Like I'm scared of even-!" Before he could finish his sentence, the young lad grabbed the handle of the pot, only to burn his hand! "OW! Damn it!"

Shifu grinned at Link's fault, and he said, "You see? If you think a burnt finger's a problem, the Skeleton King's return would be an even greater problem."

Rolling his eyes, the green-wearing boy just grabbed a cloth and pulled off the pot's cover and scooped a huge spoonful of what looked like gruel out of the pot. Seeing this, Garfield smiled and trotted over to the bowl. However, as soon as he reached the bowl, and before he even took a bite, the tubby cat took a whiff. Grimacing at the smell, Garfield looked as if he was about to barf.

"This is food??" asked the orange feline in disgust.

"Oh, no, Garfield. That's not for you; it's for Cheese." Shifu pointed out.

Of course, all Link did in response was scowl at this. "'Cheese, Cheese'. It's always 'Cheese'!" The young boy snapped in annoyance, slamming the cover back on the pot on the last 'Cheese'.

Now, Link was an assistant Chao keeper, and let me tell you. He hated every minute of it because helping his master/foster father was never his idea of fun. However, at some times, it did prove helpful. Right now, though, the blond-haired boy had started to have had enough of his simple life.

"And one day, you'll learn why." Shifu simply said, coming over to the boy, and handing him the bowl of gruel. "Now, daydreaming time is over right now. You have chores to do."

Link just simply sighed at this, taking the bowl before he headed out the door. "Yeah, yeah…."

Shifu sighed as he watched his assistant walk out the door as he said, "He is so young, yet naïve to the dangers that lie before him." The elderly red panda looked inside the pot, and grinned as he faced Garfield. "Well, Garfield. You're in luck; there's enough food left for you."

Of course, all the cat did was groan in disgust. "Yech! No way! I'm not really hungry to begin with!" He exclaimed, much to Shifu's confusion. Just a few minutes ago, Garfield was begging his master for food, and now he's not even hungry? That was very odd.

-----------------------------

Meanwhile, outside of the cottage, Link walked across a little bridge, mumbling to himself.

"He just doesn't understand." The boy mumbled, referring to Shifu as he walked past a few Farfetch'd. "I'm not a little boy anymore."

Soon, the boy reached his destination: a small pen where inside there was a little wooden hut with a pile of hay for a roof. As soon as he reached the entrance, Blaze kicked the door open as he continued on.

"I mean, come on. I ought to be doing heroic deeds for Narnia," Link continued, kicking the gruel-filled bowl into the entryway of the little hut, "not waiting hands for some stupid little raindrop shaped headed- Hey!"

At that given moment, Link saw the bowl slide back out. Possibly out of annoyance. That was why he gave out with his interjection. Suddenly, the young lad forgave and forgot as he smiled with a chuckle.

"Okay, Cheese. I didn't mean it."

As if on cue from hearing his own name, the creature in question walked out of the doorway. He was light blue and had yellow dots on the edge of his pudgy little hands and feet. His face was shaped like a raindrop and also had a small dot over its head. The only thing he really wore was a red bowtie. Cheese was a really cute little guy, but sometimes, he could be very stubborn.

"You'd better eat it. You know Shifu made it especially for you." Link added.

The little chao looked a little hesitant about his food. Then, he took a bite of the gruel, and chewed it up. As soon as he swallowed what was in his mouth, Cheese stuck his tongue out in disgust. It might not have been the best food he had ever had, but it was better than having nothing to eat.

Link sighed in frustration, "Is this my life's purpose; pampering some little baby with butterfly wings? I'm a warrior; not a chao keeper!"

Cheese had stopped eating his gruel and looked towards the blond-headed boy. The blue-skinned creature followed his assistant master as the latter continued to talk on.

"I mean all I need is a chance. And I could be a famous warrior." It was that given moment that Link noticed a stick at his feet. Grinning, the boy picked up the stick. While it was not really a sword, to him it didn't hurt to pretend.

"Look at me, Cheese! I can do it!" exclaimed Link happily. He swung the stick at Cheese with a yell, terrifying the chao and causing him to hide behind a post. "Ha ha! Even you're scared out of your wits!"

Just then, the boy glanced to see the same group of Farfetch'd from earlier come his way. With a grin, Link swung his stick at them, yelling, "You dare to challenge me? Run, you cowards! Run!"

Out of fear, the bird-like creatures scurried away as they gave out yells. They scurried behind a stack of hay, hoping to get away from the boy and his dreaming. In the midst of it all, one of the running Farfetch'd had whacked a bucket at Link, only for the boy to duck, and the bucket went flying past him.

Meanwhile, a figure entered in the yard via gate. The figure was none other than Po the Panda, one of Link's best friends in Cambridge. Now, he literally was a big fat panda with green eyes, and his only clothes consisted of a pair of patched-up shorts, bandages around his ankles, and a pair of brown sandals. Although Po was fat and often made fun of because of it, that never truly bothered him.

When the panda saw Link, he grinned and began to call out, "Hey, Li-!" It was then that he got interrupted when the projectile bucket from earlier had landed on his head, blinding him.

"Hey! Help! I can't see!" Po yelled, panicking and running in every direction.

He ran through the barn, and crashed into a lot of stuff. Meanwhile, outside of the barn, Link chuckled as he spun the sword-like stick around. He might not be a real warrior, but that couldn't stop him from dreaming. All of a sudden, the barn doors burst open, catching the boy's attention. When he turned around, he saw a huge hulking figure in brown shorts, a purple cape, and a bucket on its head. Somehow, he knew that it was none other than Po all dressed up.

"Well, well. If it isn't His Majesty, the Skeleton King." Grinned the boy. "So we meet at last!"

With a devilish smirk, Link jumped up and clanged the sides of the bucket like crazy. As soon as the boy was back on the ground, Po removed the bucket from off of his own head, which was literally shaking. From his point of view, he felt like he was literally seeing triple of Link as the boy laughed.

"Even the Skeleton King trembles in fear!" laughed Link.

Suddenly, Po got a devilish idea as he removed the "cape" from around his neck. When Link wasn't looking, the panda backed away a few paces. If you think Po was just gonna let Link have all the fun, you'd have another thing coming!

As Link spoke to Cheese, the latter looked past him nervously towards Po. "See, Cheese? Everyone runs from the famous Link of Cambridge!"

"Get ready to feel the THUNDAH!!!!" a familiar voice shouted.

"What?" Link muttered out of confusion.

Just as the boy began to turn around, Cheese began to run away. Before Link could look around for the source of the voice, he felt himself get tackled by a familiar panda! The two rolled into the mud, while the Farfetch'd witnessing this pointed and laughed at what they saw. Po, meanwhile, chuckled to himself, letting go of Link. The boy, meanwhile, acted like he had been defeated in battle.

"And so it ends, with Narnia's finest warrior drawing his last... breath." Said Link dramatically as he "died".

Po and Cheese were thinking he wasn't faking, with the former looking horrified. He started to think he had overdone it.

"Oh, no no no no!" Po began in panic. He held Link up, and tried to wake him up. "Wake up, little guy. I didn't mean it!"

Laughing, Link opened his eyes and glanced at Po. "I'm not really dying! I was only playing!"

With a sigh of relief, the panda said, "Don't ever do that again."

"Sorry, Po. I couldn't resist." The boy in green told him, dusting some of the mud off of him before walking to the fence to look onto the horizon.

"Lemme guess: dreaming of being a famous warrior again?"

Link sighed as he nodded and music began to play, "I know we will get there someday, though. It may be awhile, but you and I will be famous one day, fighting monsters and demons, rescuing pretty damsels and becoming heroes."

Po looked to his friend, arching an eyebrow. In a matter of seconds, Link began to sing a song as he came towards him and Cheese.

Link: _**I look around here and I want to cry**_

"Aww, me too." Po added with a nod.

Link: _**I feel like the world is passing me by.**_

" It is." Joked Po, earning an annoyed look from the boy as he walked off a little.

Link: _**And I just can't help but wonder  
**_

_**Am I'm doomed to wash and dry?  
**_

_**And is it a curse I'm under to do it 'til I die?**_

The boy's panda friend looked nervous at that, "Oh, I hope not."

Just then, Link smirked, picking up the stick he used to pretend was a sword earlier as he swung it around.

Link: _**When we could be explorers**_

Sailing off to distant lands

Instead of spending every afternoon just getting dishpan hands.

I want a life that's filled with things both wild and free,  
  
The two friends looked up as they continued.

Link and Po: _**There's gotta be something better  
**_

_**Something better  
**_  
Link: _**There's gotta be something better than this for me.**_

"Well, now you're talkin', kid!" Po exclaimed with a grin.

Po: _**If it's weird and wild, let's go and find it  
**_

_**Ha ha ha ha!  
**_

_**The crazier, the better, is what I say**_

"Chao, chao!" Cheese chirped in agreement.

Po: _**To tell 'de truth I really wouldn't mind it**_

"Mind what?" asked Link, looking at Po.

Po: _**If we're found someplace with ten square meals a day!**_

Both: _**Let danger call my name**_

Po: _**If it does, I'm gonna hide...**_

Link couldn't help but chuckle as Po hid behind him at "hide".

Link: _**I'll put my courage to the test,**_

Po: _**And I'll be by your side.**_

With a determined look, Link walked uphill as the sun shone above him, with Po and Cheese following.

Link: _**There's gotta be something better than this**_

Po: _**Something more than this**_

Link: _**I know that there's so much out there to see  
**_  
Po: _**To see  
**_  
Link: _**And I know this life I'm living can't be my destiny**_

Po: _**Destiny**_

Both: _**There's gotta be something better,  
**_

_**Something better...**_

Link: _**There's gotta be something better for me**_

"And me!" Po added with a smile.

Both: _**There's something better than this for you and me!**_

Both the boy and panda held "Me" up until the song ended. And as soon as the song ended, it was then that the three had heard small footsteps approaching them. They looked in the direction of the footsteps to see…

"Master Shifu!" Link and Po exclaimed in surprise.

The red panda in question looked at them sternly with his arms behind his back. "Hmm. Not quite the blade for a hero."

Link looked a little nervous. Usually, whenever he was playing when he was supposed to be doing chores that sometimes meant trouble was approaching. So now was the time for the boy to think up a "perfect" excuse.

"Uh, I'm sorry. It's just we were…." Began the boy, before he looked over at Cheese, who was covered in mud. "Cheese got dirty!"

The chao in question gave off a nervous smile to Shifu as the latter said, "So I see." The philosopher/kung fu master folded his arms across his chest as he looked at Link. "I take it you were having another daydream?"

Link's face fell as he wiped some of the mud off his face. "Aww, c'mon, Shifu! Won't I be anything besides a stupid Chao keeper?"

"Now, Link. Cheese is a special chao." Replied Shifu with a smile as he rubbed Cheese on the head, making the chao squeak happily. He stopped as he began to go back inside. "Now, I'd give him a nice bath; I'm sure he needs it."

Link sighed as he picked Cheese up, and walked to a little tub. "Well, guys… it looks like no matter what happens, I'll be a chao keeper when I'm as old as Shifu."

"Well, look on he bright side. At least you won't have to worry about dying in battle." Po reassured, until he muttered to himself, "Though I would like to be a kung fu master myself someday."

Although he was listening to the panda, Link focused more on bathing Cheese. After the boy had placed his chao friend in the little tub, the former dumped some soapy water on the latter, much to his delight. If there was one thing that Cheese liked, it was being given a nice soothing bath.

"Heh, you like that, don'tcha?" Link asked with a grin as he picked up a handheld scrub, "Now for the part you like best."

With that, the blond boy began scrubbing the little chao's back. As Link did so, Cheese smiled and began to relax. However, the small creature started to look a little concerned about something. It was only a matter of seconds that Cheese's eyes began to widen in terror as if he had realized something was horribly wrong. Then, in a quick instant, Cheese got up in panic, much to Link and Po's confusion.

"Hey, what's up, Cheese?" Po asked in confusion, "Link isn't done with ya ye-!"

The panda's sentence was cut short as Cheese began moving around and squealing in terror, much to the two's alarm. What was going on with the little chao?!

"Cheese, calm down! What's wrong?!" Link shouted in alarm, grabbing Cheese and holding onto him in an attempt to calm him down.

Just then, the shutters to the cottage burst open. Looking out was none other than an annoyed-looking Shifu. He had decided to see what all the commotion was about.

"Link! Panda! What is going on?!" demanded the red panda master.

"I- I don't know!" Link replied in panic, trying to keep his grip on Cheese.

"Yeah! Something's up with Cheese!" Po added likewise.

A panicked look came across Shifu's face as he called out, "Quickly, boys! Bring Cheese inside!"

With that, Shifu closed the shutters urgently, and got to work on something. Whatever was wrong with Cheese, the three would find out soon, and it would be only the beginning of something big.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whoo! Finally! I got chapter 1 of this baby done! :D

Now, it might be short, but please bear with me. I've been extra busy with college lately. And you gotta respect that.

Now, to point out a few things in this chapter.

1) The version of Link I'll be using in this story is Toon Link. In other words, Link in his LoZ: Wind Waker form.

2) That scene with Po's entrance is really a substitute for that part where Taran pretends that the goat is the Horned King. Up till when Po tackles Link.

3) The song that Link and Po sing- "Something Better"- comes from _Muppet Treasure Island_

All in all, I hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter: Link will not only discover something special about Cheese, but he will also learn of a special lost artifact as well.

Till then, review away. But I do not want to receive crap about my fanmake or The Black Cauldron. So no flames are allowed!


	2. Cheese's Vision

Hey, guys. I'm back with chapter 2 of my parody of TBC! :D

*looks at amount of reviews from last chapter* Huh. Not a lot of reviews. Ah, well. Better a few reviews than none at all. :)

Okay, now on with chapter 2.

**Chapter 2  
Cheese's Vision**

Half an hour after Cheese had begun freaking out, Shifu went straight to work setting up a few things. By now, all the windows had been shut, and the red panda master had placed a water-filled bowl in the center of the room, placing a candle next to the bowl. Just as Shifu had just lit the candle, Link and Po had entered the cottage, the former carrying Cheese.

"Hey, what's up with all this?" asked the blond boy, confused by the way Shifu had everything set up.

The red panda just simply responded by saying, "Place Cheese down, boy."

Nodding, Link placed the little chao next to the water-filled bowl as his master continued on while rubbing Cheese's head in comfort, "I never use Cheese's powers unless I have to. And now, I must."

"Powers?" Po and Link asked in surprise. What could the kung fu master/philosopher have meant by that?

"Boys, what you are about to see, you must keep it secret no matter what."

Of course, Link and his panda friend looked pretty confused and surprised all at once. It finally dawned on them that Cheese was not your average chao. Shifu must've been right; Cheese was a special chao. Now, Shifu had picked up a wooden staff practically longer than him as he stirred the water with it. As the red panda did so, he started to speak a few words.

"Cheese, from you I do beseech… Knowledge that lies beyond my reach..." Shifu recited, stirring the water, making Cheese a little dizzy, "Troubled thoughts weigh on your heart... you now those thoughts impart..."

After watching the spinning stick, the little chao finally bobbed his mouth into the water. When he did so, he opened his eyes, which glowed a very eerie yellow. At the same time, the water started to glow different colors. Suddenly, an image began to form. The image took the form of an ominous figure riding on a horse, Shifu immediately recognizing the figure as…

"The Skeleton King…" said the red panda.

Link and Po watched on, not believing what they were seeing. The former gasped and was about to cry out, but he thankfully caught himself and clasped his hands over his mouth.

"Shush. Don't interfere, boys." Shifu whispered, though he focused on the images that took form in the water, "He's searching for something…"

The next image to form was an image of two dragons, looking as if they were circling the sky, searching for something. Soon, the images of the dragons merged to form an image of what looked like a huge iron kettle; a cauldron. Shifu's eyes widened in realization, recognizing the cauldron.

"So that's what he's after," exclaimed the red panda in a whisper, "the Black Cauldron!"

"'The Black Cauldron'?" Link repeated, glancing at the kung fu master.

"A talisman of great evil, Link. It has been hidden for centuries, and is said to be the prison of a king so evil," Shifu explained in response as an image formed, revealing it to be a skeletal and evil figure looking at the cauldron before grabbing it. Watching this, Shifu continued to explain, "But if the Skeleton King finds it and unleashes its power, nothing could possibly stand in his way."

Suddenly, the image in the water began to take a new form. At first it just looked like a shape of a blob that was light blue in color. Soon, it took the form of a familiar chao, and not just ANY chao…

Link gasped, recognizing the chao, "That's Cheese!"

"He knows…" Shifu said in horror, as the images of two skeletal and robotic hands formed around the image of Cheese. "STOP!"

With that, the red panda stuck his staff into the water with a thud. This thud caused Cheese to break out of his small trance. The little chao shook his head dizzily after snapping back into reality. By now, Shifu looked worried as he rushed over to a cabinet, and back to his desk.

"You both have to leave at once," said the old master, pushing his books to one side as he began packing some food into a backpack, "I want you to take Cheese to the secret cottage in the Western Woods, and never bring him out until I come to get you."

After putting on his favorite green cap, Link looked in Shifu's direction, "Hide? But why?"

"Because I was the only one who knew of Cheese's powers, but now the Skeleton King has discovered it," Shifu answered as he finished packing up the backpack, "You must make sure he never uses Cheese to find the Black Cauldron."

Meanwhile, Link had placed a leash around Cheese's neck, and the boy scoffed, "I'm not scared of that bucket-headed freak!"

"Yeah, let him try and use Cheese to find some overgrown cooking pot!" Po said, sharing Link's courage.

"Well, that makes you both very foolish, because lack of wisdom is no match for that tyrant's evil," replied Shifu, making Link and his panda friend look concerned. The old red panda master then handed Po the backpack as he faced the two, "Now, off you go. And take good care of yourselves and Cheese."

Sighing, Link knelt down to Shifu's level, and he hugged him, and the master hugged back. While he was not truly the boy's father, Shifu had always been like one to him. And Link knew he would surely miss him.

"Goodbye, Shifu." Said Link, breaking his hug as he faced looked at Shifu, "Po and I won't fail you. I promise."

"Farewell, Link. I hope you will succeed." said the old red panda, before letting go. It was then that he took something out of his pocket, and placed it around the boy's neck.

Link looked over the item around his neck. It was a string necklace with a Silver Star amulet on one end. Looking puzzled, he looked at Shifu with a simple question: "What the heck is this?"

"It's the Star of Light. If you should come across any danger in your journey, the star will protect you, even from the wrath of the Skeleton King. Now. onto your journey, and do whatever you can to stay out of trouble."

With that, Po opened the door to the cottage. Then, he, Link and Cheese, who had his leash on and held onto by Link, left the cottage. Link looked back at Shifu with a smile, and he, Cheese and Po left for their little journey. As he and Garfield watched the three leave, Shifu sighed sadly.

"So much so soon…" said the kung fu master, "…rest on their young shoulders…"

"Wow! I can't believe we're actually on a quest!" Po exclaimed enthusiastically. He had been hoping to go on an adventure like this ever since he was a cub. His enthusiasm was cut short when he stopped to see Link looking towards the farm he once called home. "Hey, Link. You okay?"

Snapping out of his daze, the boy looked at his pungent friend, "Huh? I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"You seemed a little focused on something else," The panda bear pointed out, "I mean, for a kid who's been looking forward to a quest, you seem pretty bummed."

"It's nothing like that, Po. It's just that…"

Link looked back towards Shifu's cottage in Cambridge. By now, the two and Cheese were right at the gates of the village. Never before had either of the three been outside of the village their whole lives. And now, here they were; going on a quest to keep Cheese from the clutches of the dreaded Skeleton King. Of course, they knew it would be no easy task, and it left them wondering if they'd live to come home and tell the tale.

"… It's just that I'm afraid that this is the last time any of us will ever see this place."

At the sound of that, Po's ears slightly lowered. To him, like it was to Link, Cambridge was his one true home. It was the one place where he had first met Link and they first became childhood friends. Despite his excitement of going on an adventure, he too felt sorrow for having to leave the village. But then, he smiled a little and knelt to Link's level and lifted his chin, like a father comforting his child.

"Well, let's just say that we do come back. Heck; we might even be welcomed back as heroes," said Po in a reassuring tone.

At the sound of that, Link smiled a bit, "Yeah. I like the idea of that. Link and Po…"

"Po and Link…"

"Mighty and powerful warriors!" The two exclaimed before giving a little laugh. After sharing the laugh, the boy, panda and Chao continued down the dusty road, as Po began to sing a little song.

Po: _**There's a Road**__  
_

_**Calling you to stray.**__  
_

_**Step by step**__  
_

_**Pulling you away.**_

Link: _**Under Moon and Star**__  
_

_**Take the Road**__  
_

_**No matter how far.**_

Soon, the three came to a fork in the road. Troubled, Link pulled out a map that Shifu had given to him before they left Cambridge. After looking at it, the green-clad boy looked towards the right path and pointed towards it. With that, the trio continued down that path.__

_**Where it leads**__  
_

_**No-one ever knows**__  
_

_**Don't look back**__  
_

_**Follow where it goes.**_

Both: _**Far beyond the Sun**__  
_

_**Take the Road**__  
_

_**Wherever it runs**_

_**The Road goes on**__  
_

_**Ever ever on**__  
_

_**Hill by hill**__  
_

_**Mile by mile**__  
_

_**Field by field**__  
_

_**Stile by stile.**__  
_

_**The Road goes on**__  
_

_**Ever ever on**_

_**The Road goes on**__  
_

_**Ever ever on**__  
_

_**Hill by hill**__  
_

_**Mile by mile**__  
_

_**Field by field**__  
_

_**Stile by stile.**__  
_

_**The Road goes on**__  
_

_**Ever ever on**_

Eventually, the three came upon a few forest rangers. Link and Po explained that they were going to the Forbidden Forest, to hide Cheese from the Skeleton King's wrath. Although the rangers wanted to know why, Link and Po told them it was a secret. Taking that into consideration, the rangers let them go on their merry way, pointing the trio in the right direction as they sang.

Rangers:_**Mountain and valley**__  
_

_**And pasture and meadow**__  
_

_**Stretching unending**__  
_

_**For mile after mile.**__  
_

_**Fenland and moorland**__  
_

_**And shoreline and canyon**__  
_

_**Bordered by hurdle**__  
_

_**And hedgerow and stile**_

At one point in the walk to the forest, the trio stopped to have some of the food Shifu packed for them. Po saw they were near a pear tree and grinned, picking a few off of the tree's branches.

Po: _**One more mile**__  
_

_**Then it's time to eat**__  
_

_**Pick some pears,**__  
_

_**Succulent and sweet**_

Link and Po: _**To the farthest shore.**_

_**Take the Road**_

_**A hundred miles more.**_

During their next part of the journey, Link, Po and Cheese came to a pretty deep river. While Link and Cheese managed to go from rock to rock until they crossed the river, Po had slipped halfway across the river and fell in with a big splash! Once his friend emerged halfway up, the blond boy and chao could not help but laugh as the bear had a fish halfway in his mouth. Of course, Po managed to spit it back out and laugh the ordeal off.

Link:_**Sweet pink trout  
**_

_**Tickled form a stream  
**_

_**Milk a goat,  
**_

_**Churn it into cream.**_

Both: _**Far beyond the Sun**__  
_

_**Take the Road**__  
_

_**Wherever it runs. **_

_**The Road goes on  
**_

_**Ever ever on  
**_

_**Moor by moor  
**_

_**Glen by glen  
**_

_**Vale by vale  
**_

_**Fen by fen  
**_

_**The Road goes on  
**_

_**Ever ever on.**_

Both:_**See the Road flows past your doorstep  
**_

_**Calling for your feet to stray  
**_

_**Like a deep and rolling river  
**_

_**It will sweep them far away.**_

All:_**Just beyond the far horizon**__  
_

_**Lies a waiting world unknown**__  
_

_**Like the dawn its beauty beckons**__  
_

_**With a wonder all its own.**_

Eventually, Link, Cheese and Po came to a clearing in the woods. It was only a matter of seconds that the green-clad boy motioned for the others to stop and look ahead. Not too far from them was a whole pilgrimage of elves walking along a path. As the elves walked on, they chanted a little song.

Elves: _**Númenna!**__  
_

_**Auti i ré.**__  
_

_**Yallume! Hilya!**_

"Wow…" said Link, completely mesmerized, "I've never seen a whole pilgrimage of elves this close before. It's so amazing, isn't it?"

"I know. Not to mention if you come across elves, it's said that you'll be granted good luck." Po added with a nod and a grin.

_**Númenna!**__  
_

_**Auti i ré.**__  
_

_**Yallume! Hilya!**_

_**Hilya! Hilya! Auta. Hilya!**_

_**Númenna!**__  
_

_**Auti i ré.**__  
_

_**Yallume! Hilya!**_

As the trio continued on down the road to complete their quest, the Rangers of the North were still watching and singing.

Rangers: _**Mountain and valley**__  
_

_**And pasture and meadow**__  
_

_**Stretching unending**__  
_

_**For mile after mile.**__  
_

_**Fenland and moorland**__  
_

_**And shoreline and canyon**__  
_

_**Bordered by hurdle**__  
_

_**And hedgerow and stile…**_

...

Meanwhile, elsewhere in a darker part of Narnia known as Ettinsmoor, there resided a dark-looking castle. Many had known that this castle had belonged once to the White Witch, Jadis, the supposed "queen" of Narnia. And the castle itself looked like it had seen better days since Jadis's defeat in the battle for Narnia. Nowadays, the Skeleton King himself, whom ruled over Ettinsmoor since he came to power, had claimed the castle.

At the moment, the evil rule- the Skeleton King- stood in the Throne Room. The long cape on his back was a deadly black. His legs were thin and widened into boot-shaped feet while his arms resembled that of a robot; they looked mechanical, complete with ball bearings. Red covered his feet, forearms, and sharp claws. His torso was questionable; one could see organs through the outer layer. He wore a belt buckle with the letters 'SK'. In the center of his chest, there was a small sphere with a red 'button'. And in his right hand, he held a long staff. His neck was thick and even segmented robotically. Horns were on the sides of his squared head. His eyes were solid-black, except for two tiny red dots. The robotic skeletal monarch stepped down a few steps until he reached the bottom.

The Throne Room itself was filled with numerous skeletons, many of those being the corpses of ancient warriors that died in great battles. As for the Throne Room, during Jadis's rule, the huge room had seemed like a huge ice cave, with an ice floor. But nowadays, the ice had been long gone, and the room looked like it was in decay, much like the skeletal and dead warriors that the Skeleton King spoke to.

"Oh, yes, my soldiers…." Spoke the wicked king, "Soon, the Black Cauldron will be mine… it's evil powers shall course through my veins, and I shall make you…. Cauldron-born."

The king evilly grinned as he continued, "Yes, and you shall worship ME! Me…" He looked among all the dead soldiers around the room. "Oh, my soldiers. I have always longed to be a god, among mortal men…"

Smiling sinisterly, the Skeleton King left the throne room. One way or another, he would surely find the Black Cauldron and use its evil powers for his undead army. And he would hopefully find the evil artifact soon….

...

Whew! Chapter 2 is finally done! Sorry if it seemed short in any way. Or if it's not really that good; I did my best on it. X(

Now, to point some things out. For starters, if anyone's wondering, the Skeleton King in my story is the one from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go.

And I think a perfect voice actor for Toon Link, in my opinion, would have to be Haley Joel Osment of Kingdom Hearts fame. ;)

Next chapter, Link and Po will get separated from Cheese, while meeting a mischievous little cat, and trying to keep Cheese from the grasps of the Skeleton King.

Till next chapter, please review away, but no flames!


	3. Waffle the Mischevious

Guess who's back with a whole new chapter of The Black Cauldron?! ;)

(Silence….) ……… Huh. Still not a lot of reviews/feedback. I'm beginning to wonder if this kind of parody was a very good choice for a comeback. :l

Anyways, here' the next chapter. XD

Chapter 3

Waffle the Mischievous

It had been half an hour since Link and Po had learned of Cheese's special ability and had been told by Shifu to bring the little chao to the cottage in the Western Woods. Speaking of which, that would happen to be what the trio was entering at the precise moment.

"Wow, Cheese. I never knew you were an oracular chao." Said Link in amazement. "I thought you were just some same old little chao."

"Yeah. We had no idea you were special in any way." Po agreed likewise, "Shifu's gonna be glad he put his trust in us."

With that, the three continue their trek into the woods. A little later, the trio came to a quick stop by a stream. All that walking had made them thirsty, and they still had somewhat of a long way to go.

"Don't worry, Cheese. We won't let anyone- not even the Skeleton King- harm you." Continued Link before he, Cheese and Po took a drink from the stream.

It was then that the green-clad boy spotted a stick floating in the stream. Grinning, he picked up the stick and held it like he would with a sword.

"That's right! Po and I will protect ya!" Link finished proudly.

Suddenly, he could have sworn he heard a crowd cheering. What caught his attention next was a glow of light coming from below him in the pond. Link looked down to see that a part of the river was glowing and making out an image. He gestured for a confused Po to take a look with him. At that precise moment, the image took form of what looked like Link and Po, except Link was now wearing golden knight armor and holding a gold shield and sword. Po, on the other hand, was wearing what looked like kung fu robes that were crimson and god in color, along with a matching cape and rice hat.

"Link of Cambridge, the greatest warrior in all of Narnia, and Po the Dragon Warrior!!" announced a deep and bellowing voice, "Two of the greatest heroes in all of the land!"

Smiling, the two bowed to an unseen crowd. It had seemed that they were actually living their lifelong dreams.

"Please, please." Said Po to an invisible crowd of fans, "There's no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all." Link called out with a smile as he bowed over and over, "But if it weren't for our good little buddy, Cheese, here, we-"

At that precise moment, Link and Po snapped out of their daydreaming. It took them a little while to realize that they had been dreaming. And what was worse was that Cheese was nowhere in sight at all. He was gone; vanished!

"Cheese? Where'd you go?" Link asked half to himself before he groaned, "Aww, great!"

With that, the two ran off to find their chao friend. The duo ran deep into the woods, hoping that they were not too late. As they reached a certain point in the forest, the two looked around, calling out for Cheese. The only response to each call? Their echoes. The farther in they went into the woods, the darker it got and the more freaked out Link and Po were feeling. Soon, they came to a point where they heard a twig snap, and they hid behind a tree.

"Cheese? Little buddy? Is that you?" Po asked aloud.

Summoning the courage, Link got out of his hiding spot and plled an apple out of his vest, "Hey, Cheese. Look what I got. A lovely, juicy-"

"SPLEE!!!!"

Suddenly, the blond boy felt something jump onto him; pushing him to the ground and knocking his hat clean off his head. With Link on the ground, the one responsible for shoving him chased after the apple that rolled away. Soon, the figure caught the apple and laughed gleefully before kissing the apple three times. The figure revealed itself to be a cat of some sort. He looked skinny and was gray in color with dark gray stripes on his left ear and on his tail, and his hind paws were white in color. Gleefully, the cat jumped up while holding the apple.

"Yay! A great prince actually gave poor starving Waffle munchings and crunchings!" exclaimed the cat happily, looking over the apple. "Really nice apple."

Relieving himself, Link got up as he put his green hat back on, just as Po came over to help him up.

"Hey, Link. You all right?" asked the panda.

"Ugh, yeah." Groaned Link, "But what just ha-? Hey, my apple!"

Sweatdropping, Po indicated the cat that swiped Link's apple. The blond boy looked a little dismayed and surprised all at once. Where did that cat come from?

"Good prince, good apple. Oh, boy. It looks delicious." Continued the furry little creature. After looking over the apple once more, it began to hop away while humming gleefully.

Before the cat could get far, however, Link ran up to the creature, grabbing it by the scruff of his neck. "Hey, wait a minute, you fleabag! I didn't give you that apple! You took it!"

The cat looked up at the blond boy who had seized him. All he did was stare at him nervously for a little while. And then, in response, the cat bit him on the hand to make Link let go of him. And to tell you the truth, it actually worked as the boy yelped in pain as he let go of the cat. The green-clad lad examined the bite mark on his hand, only for a familiar friend of his to speak up.

"Hey, get back here with my little buddy's apple, you stupid feline!" Po yelled angrily as the cat jumped into the nearest bush.

Shrugging off the bite, Link looked down at his feet to see a stick. The boy picked it up as he came towards the bush. "Okay, cat. If you don't gimme back the apple on the count of three, you'll regret it. One….. Two…."

Before Link could reach three, a familiar cat slinked right out of the bushes, holding both his hands together. As he slinked out, he gave the boy and his panda friend a nervous glance.

"Okay, now give it back." Po said, glaring at the feline.

As if to oblige to the panda, the cat came up to Link. The gray-furred creature opened his hands to reveal… Nothing. His hands were empty as he gave a nervous toothy grin.

"Oh, c'mon! I don't have time for this!" Link snapped in annoyance, his patience wearing thin, "What'd yo do with the apple?"

"Whaddya mean? Waffle not know-" began the cat.

Po cut the cat's sentence short by asking, "Okay, who is this Waffle you keep mentioning?"

"Oh, sorry." Chuckled the cat, "I couldn't resist; it's just I really liked Gollum from Lord of the Rings. My name is Waffle, by the way."

Link just sighed in annoyance, "Okay, Waffle. Now, lemme have the apple. Where is it?"

Po, meanwhile, noticed something about the cat, now known as Waffle. The latter had his tail behind his back for some reason. Seeming a little suspicious, the panda began to sneak quietly behind the cat.

Waffle just looked nervously as Link with a shrug, not even paying any attention to the boy's friend coming from behind. "What're you talking about? I dunno where the apple-."

"Oh, really?" The cat looked nervous as Po pulled something out from behind the former's back; a red apple!

"Uh-oh!" yelped Waffle, who simply swiped the apple again, and made a sad attempt to hide it again.

Having had enough, Link approached the cat. The boy was starting to really have had enough of this pain-in-the-neck cat. Never had he met anything or anyone as pesky as this… creature.

"All right, gimme back the apple. Now!" Link said, getting impatient while holding out his hand.

Waffle looked hungrily at the apple he held in his hands. From the look on his face, it was almost as if his heart were about to break. This was the only piece of food that he must have come across in possibly ages, only to have to give it back. Suddenly, the feline spotted a speck of dust on the apple, and dusted it off.

Fed up with waiting, Link finally snapped, "C'mon, the apple! Give it already!"

Snapping out of it, Waffle began to hand the apple over to Link, the latter looking quite satisfied. However, before the apple could reach the boy's hand, the feline that held the apple quickly pulled back and took a bite out of the apple, and looked satisfied as he handed back the apple. Link, on the other hand, looked at the apple in shock and disbelief. The boy then glared angrily at the Waffle, who licked his fingers in satisfaction.

"Why, you horrible, flea-ridden, selfish, greedy little creep!" began Link angrily.

Fed up as much as Link was, Po joined in, "You got anything to say for yourself?! Huh?!"

Waffle just looked at the two in shock. Then, he looked like he was going to cry. Next thing Link and Po knew, the cat sat down and began to sob uncontrollably.

"Waaa! I am such a bad cat! I deserve to smacked and whacked on my poor, tender head! Always left without anything to eat!" sobbed Waffle, before he got up and hugged Link's leg, "Please forgive me!"

Sighing in annoyance, Link pried the cat off, "Oh, knock it off. Po and I aren't gonna hurt you! Now, look! Have you seen my Chao buddy?"

Having finished with sobbing, Waffle pondered this as he scratched his head, "A chao, huh? Hmm…." He looked at the two as he continued while making gestures, "Plump? One foot tall? Tear-drop-shaped head? Wears a cue red bowtie?"

Hearing this made Link and Po smile. Maybe this cat would lead them in the right direction after all!

"Yeah! That's him! That's Cheese!" Po exclaimed.

"So you know where he is??" Link asked eagerly.

Smiling, Waffle opened his mouth to speak. However, the cat paused as his finger wiggled down, and he shook his head, "Then again, nope. I haven't seen a cute little chao. Sorry."

Link groaned in frustration. This was really not his day. "Oh, forget it! No telling where Cheese could be by now! C'mon, Po!"

"Right." Po said, following after his friend.

Meanwhile, Waffle took notice of Link, stuffing the bitten apple back into his vest. The feline smacked his lips as he got an idea. Perhaps he could get the boy to hand the apple over to him. With a smile, Waffle ran over to Link and Po and stopped right in front of them.

"Wait, Master!" exclaimed the cat, stopping the duo, "I remember now! I was just minding my own business when I saw the little chao scurry through the forest!"

As Waffle spoke on, he made a gesture of a little chao scurrying away.

"Really?!" Link asked in surprise.

"The little guy is in the woods??" Po asked, looking into the woods.

Waffle nodded eagerly, grabbing Link by the hand, "Yes, I saw him! C'mon! I'll help you find your friend, then _we _can be friends forever!!"

Just then, before the boy knew it, the strange feline was searching through his vest, muttering, "Hmm. I know he put those munchings and crunchings in here somewhere."

"Oi vey. I should have guessed." Link grumbled as he rolled his eyes. All the cat seemed to be interested in right now was the apple.

Suddenly, the three heard what sounded like a squeal of terror in the distance. This had startled Link, Po, and Waffle, although the cat in question ducked behind the blond boy. It was then that the green-clad boy realized that he recognized the squeal.

"It's Cheese! He's in trouble!" exclaimed the boy in shock.

Completely terrified, Waffle decided to take his leave by running off in the opposite direction as he called out, "See ya!"

All Link and Po could do was stare in disbelief in the direction that Waffle ran off in. He really was a fraidy cat coward! Shaking that off, Link ran off in the direction of Cheese's scream, with Po hot on his tail. The two followed the trail of the squeal deep into the forest. Soon, the squeal had led them into a clearing in the woods. The blond boy and the large panda bear searched for Cheese until they spotted him in the clearing. And to make matters worse, two dragons named Evil Shelby and Evil Jose were circling the sky, getting ready to strike.

"Cheese!" Link exclaimed, rushing into the clearing.

The little chao kept on fleeing around, but stopped dead in his tracks when he looked up. Evil Shelby was making a nosedive right at him! Luckily, Cheese got out of the way just in time, and dodged Evil Jose as the latter came at him. However, that wasn't going to stop the male dragon as he turned to come at the chao once again.

"Look out, Cheese!" Po exclaimed in fear.

"You're mine now, you little blue freak!" Evil Jose growled, flying at Cheese once again to grab him, only to grab the ground.

Cheese began to scurry towards Link and Po, as the latter two ran in the blue creature's direction.

"C'mon, little buddy! Hurry!" Link cried as he and Po ran towards Cheese.

However, at that precise moment, Evil Shelby came out of nowhere, and grabbed the blue chao. With a satisfied grin, the female dragon began to fly off as Cheese squealed and wriggled fearfully and unsuccessfully. Link and Po did their best to hold the dragon back. However, growing tired, the latter panda started to grow tired, and let go out of exhaustion.

"Let go! Let my chao go!!" Link snapped, whacking on Evil Shelby's tail as hard as he could.

All of a sudden, Evil Jose came up from behind, and pressed pressure on the blond-haired green-clad boy, causing the latter to skid along the dirt ground. This happened to work as it caused Link to let go of Evil Shelby's tail. He then got back up, blood dripping from his lip as Po came up to him, recovered a little.

"No! Come back!" Link shouted as he followed after the two dragons.

"Please! Get back here!" Po shouted as he followed close behind the boy.

The two soon came to a huge thicket of overgrown thorns. But that didn't stop them from going through since their chao buddy was in what seemed like a great peril. After making it through the forest of thorns, Link and Po scurried up a huge hill, the latter practically falling back down the hill. Upon getting to the top of the hill, the two looked on in the distance to see Evil Shelby and Evil Jose fly off towards Ettinsmoor towards the castle of the Skeleton King as Cheese continued to squeal in terror.

Link looked on in fear, but then looked determined as he spoke, "Aw, man. We gotta get Cheese outta there! C'mon, Po!"

"Uhh….. I'd love to, but….." Po said a little nervously.

"But what?" Link asked, glancing at the panda.

"Yeah. I'd love to go in that castle, but I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Why not?!"

"Because Ettinsmoor is really scary and dangerous! You have no idea what might happen to us there!"

"Like what?"

"Well, for one, we might get tossed into the crocodile pit there. Heck, Sweeney Todd might be there, and he'll slice our throats and have us turned into meat pies. Or worst of all, we might come face to face with the Skeleton King!"

"Mr. Panda's right, Great Lord." Both Link and Po turned around to see a familiar cat looking at them in concern. "Please don't go into the castle; forget the chao."

All Link did was scowl as he saw Waffle. "Okay, what the hell are you doing here, flea bag?!"

"I came back to be your friend. That's why I'm here." The gray-furred feline answered, taking the boy's hand as he nuzzled his cheek against it before Link took his hand back.

"Friend? Yeah, right!" Link snapped out of annoyance.

"Yeah! If you were our friend, you wouldn't have run away when we-!" Po began as he glared at Waffle.

Sighing in frustration, Link put his hand on the panda's arm, making him stop. "Forget it. Po and I promised Master Shifu we'd keep Cheese out of harm's way. We gotta go. C'mon, Po."

At that moment, lightning flashed over the castle with a loud crack of thunder, startling the boy and panda. Maybe this would seem quite risky on second thought. Looking concerned, Link looked back at Waffle.

"You-you're coming with us, ri-ri-right?" he asked nervously.

Waffle looked at Link, then past him towards the castle. Suddenly, a look of fear and panic came across the cat's face. "Who, me?! No way! That place is evil! EVIL!!"

Frowning, Link put his fists on his hips. "That's what I thought! You're no friend; you're just a… A FRAIDY CAT!"

The feline looked shocked to hear this coming from the boy. Suddenly, Waffle frowned sadly, accepting this. It was true; he actually was a coward. Link then gestured to Po to follow him, but the boy then stopped, and pulled something out of his vest; the same apple that Waffle had bitten.

"Here. I'm pretty sure this was the only thing you were concerned about!" Link snapped, tossing the apple at the cat as the former landed at the latter's feet. With that, the blond boy ran down the hill.

"Hey, wait up!" Po called out, running after him.

Back on the hill, Waffle looked at the apple he had taken a bite out of. He then looked in the direction towards Ettinsmoor, and sniffled as he spoke to himself, as if he was actually speaking to someone else.

"If Great Lord Link goes into that castle of evil with the large panda, I'll never ever see my friends again. Nope; never…" said the cat sadly.

With a sad sigh, Waffle looked towards the castle, and walked down the hill in the opposite direction. If what he believed was right, then his "friends" would be doomed to never come back or see the cat ever again….

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew! Finally! I got this chapter done. It took me ages to do this one. The uncut version of this chapter on DeviantART will be somewhat bloodier in a way.

Next chapter: Link and Po will sneak into the castle in an attempt to free Cheese, but will also face the greatest evil of them all.

Till then, review away. But no flames! By the way, Shelby, I hope you don't mind that I put Evil Shelby and Evil Jose in there as the ghythaints. :)


	4. A Brief Encounter With The

Hey, guys. Sorry for keeping all of you hanging. I've been kinda taking a break from writing a little lately. That, and I've been a little lazy.

Anyways, without further ado, here is the next chapter of The Black Cauldron! XD

BTW, this chapter's gonna feature a scene not included in the original Black Cauldron film, though it'll include a brief reference to The Black Cauldron video game.

** Chapter 4  
A Brief Encounter With The God Generals**

It had been half an hour since Link and Po set off to Ettinsmoor to save Cheese. The two had tried to find an easy way into the castle. However, they had no luck in finding a simple way because the drawbridge had been pulled up, and all the windows were too high. The only way to climb up the castle was to cross the alligator-infested moat.

The green-clad boy and the large panda looked at the moat a little nervously. Just then, Link remembered why they had come to the castle- to save Cheese before he could tell the wicked Skeleton King the location of the Black Cauldron. So, the boy jumped into the moat, and began to swim towards the other side. He stopped, however, when he saw Po standing by.

"C'mon, Po! It's the only way across!" Link called out to the giant panda.

Po sweatdropped as he replied, "Uhh…. I'd love to, but… well... I'm afraid of getting my fur all wet! And I didn't bring a change of pants!"

The blond teenager just groaned to himself, "I know he's just trying to get himself out with a lie. Besides, I KNOW he brought a change of clothes." He then spoke up aloud, "Will you just come on, already, you big fraidy cat?! Think about Cheese!"

Po froze at this, and he thought to himself. Cheese might've been getting tortured inside the castle, trying to have any information concerning the Black Cauldron out of him in any inhumane way possible. After all the terrible visions went through his mind, Po screamed in terror.

"HANG ON, LITTLE GUY!!! WE'RE COMING!!!" shouted the giant panda, removing the huge backpack he was carrying before he jumped into the moat.

After waiting for a few seconds, Po had resurfaced as Link smirked.

"Works everytime." Said the boy in green to himself, before facing Po, "Now, c'mon. Let's get over to the other side."

And with that, the two swam over to the wall of the castle. Unbeknownst to them, something poked its head out of the water. It turned out to be a huge green crocodile, which made a ticking sound for some odd reason. Just then, the large reptile fixed his sights on Link and Po as the latter two were swimming over to the other side of the moat. Seeing the two, the crocodile licked and smacked his chompers hungrily, and snuck towards the duo, as the ticking sound kept going.

Meanwhile, Link and Po were just about almost there at the other side of the moat. They were very close to breaking into the castle. However, Link stopped briefly when he thought he heard something coming closer- the sound of a clock ticking.

"Uhh…. Po?"

"Yeah, little buddy?" asked the anthro bear as he stopped swimming.

"Do you hear the sound of something ticking?"

Po stopped to listen, and surely enough, he too heard the tick-tock sound of a clock. Just as he had turned around, he found himself looking into the eyes of a very hungry-looking crocodile. Po turned back towards Link, but then looked terrified to see the crocodile smirking greedily at him.

"Link?"

"What?"

"Don't look now…. But there's a crocodile right behind us!"

Looking very puzzled, Link turned around to look in his larger friend's direction. His eyes widened in terror when he saw the crocodile opening its mouth as wide as it could. Scared out of their wits, Link and Po began swimming away as fast as they could. Luckily, they had swum fast enough to get to the other side. The two jumped up, grabbing a high ledge, and Link hastily climbed up. Po got ready to climb up after him as well. However, he was halted when the crocodile snapped his jaws on Po's backseat, unfortunately pulling his pants down. The giant panda yelped as he pulled his pants back up. However, at the same time, he lost his grip on the ledge and fell back into the water, and- unfortunately- into the crocodile's mouth. Just as the crocodile re-surfaced, its jaws opened as a familiar panda poked its body halfway out.

"HELP!" Po cried in terror.

Meanwhile, Link was just about to climb up the castle walls. Before he could do so, he had heard the cry and gasped as he looked in the crocodile's direction. The boy assumed that Po was actually right behind him. Looking determined, the boy jumped back into the moat and on top of the crocodile. No one was going to eat his buddy. Not while he was around!

First, Link started off by punching the crocodile in the head. True, his punches didn't inflict much on the huge reptile. But it was enough for the crocodile to take notice of him, and he tail-whipped him off. Surely, the impact caused Link to fall off right into the water. Meanwhile, Po was literally standing on the top of the reptile's nose, just as it opened its jaws, causing the panda bear to do a painful split!

"OH! OW, that hurts!" exclaimed Po in major pain.

He started panicking as the crocodile began snapping its jaws once again. Po, looking very scared, jumped up into the air, just as the crocodile snapped its jaws on him, seizing his shorts again. At the same time, it literally scared the large panda right out of his pants and into a bush next to the castle wall. Meanwhile, Link re-surfaced just as the crocodile began chewing on something. The boy gasped in horror when he saw what the crocodile was eating- his best friend's pants. By now, he was assuming the absolute worst; the crocodile had eaten poor Po.

"Po…. No…." Link said as tears formed in his eyes. His best friend was…. Dead. Or so it seemed.

As soon as the crocodile swallowed Po's shorts, he caught sight of Link right there. The boy gasped in fear when he saw the large reptile charging at him. He braced himself for the worst, when suddenly…

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!!"

Everyone looked up to see four figures descending from the sky on...some sort of floating chair. The one sitting in the chair had white hair with a tint of pink in it and darker pink hair. He wore a black jacket with identical pants, a red shirt, yellow tie, brown shoes, and extravagant pink-white feathers sticking out from the back of his jacket.

One of the figures hanging off the left side of the chair looked to be a hulk of a man with iron gray hair and a beard. He wore a black-and-pinkish outfit, and carried what seemed to be a large scythe with him.

And the other two stood on the right side of the chair. One of them was a young man smaller than the man of the left side. He had messy green hair, and wore a green and black outfit with orange tassles on the sleeves. What was most distinguishing about him, however, was the orange and red mask he wore over his eyes.

The second person on the right side of the chair was a young man with long red hair, and he wore black armor along with a sword on his belt. The three men hanging on the chair landed, while the one sitting IN the chair stayed put.

"Who're you guys?" Link asked, getting out of the water quickly before the crocodile could get him, as the latter crashed into the wall.

"We're Sync the Tempest!" said the man in green.

"Dist the Rose!" cried the man in the chair.

"Asch the Bloody!" yelled the redhead.

"And Largo the Black Lion!" thundered the giant man.

"The God Generals!" the four of them shouted in unison.

"And you are under arrest!" Sync snapped, pointing in what seemed like Link's direction.

The boy in the green cap yelped in surprise. Could it be? He was actually put under arrest! And he hadn't done a single thing wrong at all.

"What?! But I didn't do anything!" Link protested.

"We're not talking about you, ya little blond twerp! We mean, HIM!!" Dist snapped in annoyance, and on "HIM", he pointed to the crocodile behind the boy, just as the former got out of the water, shaking his head.

Both the reptile and the boy looked surprised and confused all at once. The latter actually thought the four men were trying to arrest him, when it turns out they were on the hunt for the crocodile. Could things get any stranger? Just then, Largo slapped the crocodile into a cage big enough to fit a crocodile into.

"It serves him right for taking my huge clock and eating it when I didn't offer it to him." Dist scowled in the direction of the reptile. He then floated towards the cage, and began taunting the reptile, "Not so tough now, are ya? Huh? Hu-?"

Suddenly, the crocodile snapped its jaws at the man in the chair, making the latter yelp and back away in fright.

At the same time, Sync looked at Link as the green-haired teen spoke up. "We'd like to thank you. You helped us catch a dangerous criminal. If there's any way we can repay you…"

"Look, all I wish I had right now was my friend with his life back." Said the blond boy glumly.

"Hey. Has anybody seen my pants?"

Link looked surprised and happy to hear that. He turned in the direction of the voice to see a soaked panda stepping out of the moat with a huge bush covering his lower torso. Tears of joy formed in Link's eyes as he hugged the friend he thought was dead.

"Po! I can't believe it! You're alive!" Link exclaimed happily as tears ran down his cheeks.

As the Running Gag police looked on, they sweatdropped. Largo and Dist were just plain-old confused, while Asch and Sync looked just pain old disturbed. At the same time, Sync looked towards the backpack Po had removed earlier before jumping into the moat. He walked over to it, dug through the backpack, and soon found a duplicate pair of Po's patchwork shorts, and came over to the giant panda.

"Here, Mr. Panda. I assume you needed pants?" said the mask-wearing teen, getting Link and Po's attention.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks, kid." Replied the panda bear, taking the shorts. After doing so, Link, Sync, Dist, Largo and Asch turned away as Po removed the bush, and put on his pants.

Once that had been done, Dist looked at Link and Po as the former asked, "All right. Now, what in blazes are you two doing here in Ettinsmoor? You realize you're in the territory of the Skeleton King, right?"

"Yeah, but we have a good reason to be here," Link explained to the nicely-dressed man, "You see, my master and foster father, Shifu, told me and my friend, Po, to keep our Chao companion, Cheese, out of the Skeleton King's grasp. And we're going to get Cheese back."

The running-gag police just stared at him in confusion. What was this boy talking about? It was then that Asch took the opportunity to ask a question of his own.

"Why would the Skeleton King want a little Chao?" asked the red-head teen.

"Because, Cheese has very special powers, and he can tell the future. And if he uses those to his advantage, the Skeleton King will be able to find the Black Cauldron, and wipe out anyone who gets in his way."

"Exactly!" Po said.

-----------------------

A few minutes later, the Running gag police had helped Po and Link to the other side of the moat. This time, they had avoided bumping into anything deadly, thanks the Running Gag police. In a matter of seconds, the green-clad boy and the panda were climbing up the castle walls, bidding their pals farewell for the time being.

"See you guys later! And thanks!" Link called out, climbing up the wall with Po following.

"Just remember, if you ever need any help, just come find us!" Sync called out in response.

Soon, the duo had disappeared up the wall, and out of sight. Then, the group all looked at each other. At the precise moment, Dist took his moment to speak up.

"So… why do you suppose the Skeleton King wants to find the Black Cauldron so badly?" asked the glasses wearing man.

"Simple." Asch answered very bluntly, "He wants to find the cauldron to raise an undead army, and unleash hell. Legend has it that whoever finds The Black Cauldron will unleash an army of the undead, and either rule the world or destroy it. It was the prison of a very evil king with dark powers, and the Skeleton King, let alone evil men, won't rest till the cauldron's found."

The rest of the group just looked puzzled.

"I am NOT going to ask how you know that." Dist said in a bored voice.

The red-head teen just gave an annoyed look as he spoke up. "I did a LOT of research at the library, you ninny."

"Well, THANK YOU, Captain Obvious!" snapped the white-haired man in annoyance. It was then that he spotted Asch walking off in the opposite direction of the castle. "What the-? Asch, where are you going?!"

"I quit!" called the black armor-wearing teen as he walked off.

"YOU CAN'T QUIT!!! YOU'RE FIRED!!!!!" Sync shouted as he glared at Asch.

"Sync, you can't fire him!" Dist scolded.

"AND WHY NOT?!"

"He quit!"

After five seconds of letting that sink in, Sync gave a frustrated sigh. "Great. Now we're one God General short."

"Largo!" Dist called to the man in question.

"What?" asked Largo.

"We need you to be our fellow God General, even if you're already one."

"So… let's go find more people committing silly acts." Sync said finally.

The others nodded. With that being done, the trio got ready to leave the place. All of a sudden…

"STOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRMMM!!!!!!!"

Sync, Dist and Largo cringed at this sound. It was then that they turned towards the source of the sound. Turns out that the noise came from an irritated-looking Asch who glared at the three in annoyance.

"You don't have to yell "STORM" when you're storming off!!" Sync snapped out of irritation.

With that said, the trio and redhead went their separate ways. As they did so, the running gag police made sure not to forget the crocodile put under arrest. All they hoped, however, right now was that Link and Po would successfully make their way into the castle, and save Cheese…

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Well, there's chapter four for ya. ;)

Originally, I wasn't planning to add the God Generals in here. But then I thought about actually doing that, for comic relief. Besides, I'm a fan of that video series Phantom made over the past few months. ;)

Speaking of which, mostly everything in this chapter is a reference to the Jade Gang Vs The Running Gag Police, which can be found on YouTube. X)

And the crocodile thing, that be a reference to Disney's Peter Pan, which is where the croc is ironically from. XD

Next chapter, Link and Po will go into the castle, for real, while helping Cheese escape AND coming face to face with the great evil itself.

Till next time, you know what to do. But no flames!


	5. In The Lair of the Skeleton King

: tOkay. It's really been awhile since I updated this story, but here goes nothing. Sorry for keeping you all, BTW.

And as for the content in the previous chapter, I will have to edit it, because I did not ask one of my old friends for permission to use their character in the story. And…… yeah.

Without much further ado, let's get on with it. By the way, instead of Haley Joel Osment as Toon Link, I've decided to go with Jesse McCartney instead.

**Chapter 5**

**In the Lair of the Skeleton King**

When we last left Link and Po, they had fallen into a brief little and dangerous encounter with a bloodthirsty crocodile. However, before the crocodile could even eat them, the two friends had met up with the God-Generals, whom had arrested the crocodile, though one of the God-Generals had quit, due to being fed up with his work. But that is not important. Onto the real story now…

Many minutes after their encounter, Link and Po climbed up the steep wall. Along the climb, they had faced the challenges of falling rocks and practically falling. Speaking of falling, the blond boy in question lost his grip on the wall, but luckily was saved by his panda friend. Soon, they had found a hole in the wall, and successfully climbed through. Inside the wall, they soon found out that they were in the castle's hallway. They made it! The walls were covered with broken plaster and lined with mounted and dimly-lit torches. Looking up and down the hall, Link went down the left passageway.

"C'mon. This way." The boy called quietly to his panda friend.

Po nodded hesitantly, following his young green-clad friend. The two tiptoed down the hallway, hoping not to be caught. They knew that the best hidden they kept, the less their chance of being caught would be. Suddenly, Link and Po heard the sound of someone snoring, and it was enough to make them lean against the wall. The former poked his head around the corner to see a fat anthro cat named Pete snoring as he slept with his head leaning on a table.

Link pulled back as he whispered, "There's a henchman around the corner. If we're really quiet, he won't notice us."

Po poked his head around the corner to see Pete there, and then looked at the green-clad boy with a nod. With that being done, the duo quickly but quietly tiptoed past the entry to that room, and into another entryway. Accomplishing their little task, Link and Po let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Made it. Now, all we gotta do is-." The latter began to whisper.

Before the giant panda could finish his sentence, a wolf named Giro came from out of nowhere, barking viciously at the two friends. This was enough to make Link and Po scream in alarm, as this startled them out of their poor minds. They had not been expecting that to happen. Giro's loud barking was also enough to stir Pete awake from his slumber. Grumbling as he woke up, the large cat walked in Giro, Link and Po's direction.

Link, spotting Pete coming their way, whispered in panic to Giro, "Shut up! You're gonna get us caught! And by 'us', I mean Po and me!!"

Feeling freaked out, both the blond boy and his large friend squeezed up against the wall as best as they could. All of a sudden, Giro felt a yanking on his chain, which was attached to a collar around his neck. It turns out that Pete had yanked on the wolf's chain, making him stop, as the former spoke.

"Aww, shadup, ya mangy mutt. Why do ya always gotta bark at somethin' that ain't there?" grumbled the large cat as he walked down the hall with a reluctant Giro following. "C'mon. Might as well go for a walk."

As soon as the cat and the wolf were out of sight, Po peeked out, and looked up and down the hall. Seeing the coast was clear, the giant panda let out a huge sigh of relief. It was a really good thing that Pete hadn't spotted the two. Otherwise, Po and Link would be in serious trouble.

"Damn, that was way too close." the panda said, before looking at Link. "Okay. The coast is clear."

Hearing that was enough to make the blond boy sigh in relief. As he did that, he unknowingly leaned against the wooden wall behind him. Just then, as he leaned against the wooden wall, it opened up like a door. Deciding not to ask any questions, the two walked through the passageway, and found themselves in the rafters of a huge room.

What got their attention next was the sound of a band playing music down in the room. A large table sat before a throne, while a group of men and women dined on wine and meat. From the look of things, the two realized that they have found their way to the dining hall.

"Here's to everybody!" exclaimed a king koopa soldier named Diablor victoriously. "More wine and meat for my men!"

Out of all the men, women and creatures in the dining hall, one particular creature came up to the table with a grin. In fact, that was what the creature had on its face normally- a Chesire Cat-like grin. He was a short dark purple being with glowing red eyes, spikes that went down his back and pointy short ears.

This must have been the Skeleton King's right hand man, or more likely creature, Gengar. Despite the fact that he was the Skeleton King's right hand servant, he was treated by the others like dirt. In fact, just as he was about to eat a large steak, Bowser slapped him on the back, making the Pokémon fall in front of a henchman named Draco Malfoy.

The Death Eater grabbed Gengar, shaking him as he said, "And more women!"

Then, the ghost pokemon yelled out of alarm as a dancing barbarian grabbed him and spun him around. Meanwhile, a young woman named Azula danced for a few men, including Darth Maul, who was looking love struck.

"How about a kiss, my dear?" The red-and-black-tattooed Sith Lord asked with a smitten grin as Azula rubbed his chin seductively.

As he and Po witnessed this, Link whispered to the panda, "Call me crazy, and I don't know why, but somehow I think those two look like they could make a great couple."

"That's funny, because I was thinking the same." Po whispered back.

Back below, a huge muscular Mobian dog named Dingo was eating a huge piece of meat. He then tossed the scraps to two familiar yet evil dragons. Once the bone had reached the two, they both started to have a little tug of war over the bone. Meanwhile, a familiar Pokémon came over to a table and picked up a steak with a fork that he picked up. Before he could take the steak, however…

"Keep your hands OFF, ya little creeper!" yelled a man named Shredder, slicing the steak in half.

Gengar frowned, seeing that the warrior sliced his steak in half, leaving him with a small fraction of meat. Scowling, the ghostly creature stormed off with his dish. This was so unfair that everyone got to eat whatever they desired, and he only got a small bit of it all.

"Going somewhere, Gengar?"

Before Gengar could do or say anything, a ninja named Deidara held his leg out. The result? Gengar ended up tripping and falling head over heels until rolling into a pile of barrels. Ironically, he could have ended up walking through it on command, but since he didn't see it coming, he didn't. As the ghost Pokémon got up, everyone just laughed cruelly, making him scowl.

All of a sudden, a howl came through the halls, making everyone stop with the celebrating, even the music. The howling noise was even enough to make a dog named Alpha drop his bone out of fear and the candles to blow out. What got everyone's attention was the sight of a blue wind blew through the hall, and lightning struck one end of the hall, causing a big explosion. This was enough to startle Link and Po, and enough to almost make the latter fall backwards before he caught himself.

Following the explosion was a cloud of smoke as everyone braced themselves. Soon enough, the smoke cleared to reveal a dark figure standing there. Everyone looked on fearfully to see their ruler standing there with a cold stare. The Skeleton King had arrived to the party! Everyone, including two certain party crashers, gasped in fear upon seeing the powerful tyrant in the room.

As the cybernetic king walked to his throne, Gengar quickly dusted it for him as the latter spoke, "Welcome, Your Majesty! We were just celebrating our- I mean, _your_ success!"

With that being said, the ghostly pokemon went over to a nearby tray. On the tray was a glass goblet with jewels encrusted in the cup, along with a wine-filled bottle. Immediately, Gengar began to pour the wine, not realizing that the goblet was upside down. Realizing his little mistake, he turned the goblet over, pouring the wine into it. Once he had poured the wine into the goblet, Gengar brought it to his master as the former spoke.

"I can assure you that this time, there were no mistakes." the ghostly creature said with his Chesire Cat grin, before he turned around with a glare. "Bring in the prisoner!"

As if on cue, a barbarian carried in a bird cage. Link and Po narrowed their eyes to see that inside the birdcage was a glum-looking Cheese. Both the boy and panda looked very worried by now. It seemed that the baddies were planning on using the poor Chao to locate the Black Cauldron.

Of course, Gengar grinned at this, looking at the Skeleton King, "There, Sire. This is the Chao that creates visions." His Chesire Cat grin faded into a toothy scowl as a barbarian placed a bowl of water next to Cheese. "Okay, Chao boy! You know what you were brought here for; show the location of the Black Cauldron! You hear me?!"

Cheese just looked at the ghost Pokémon with an unsure look. But the Chao just simply frowned, then turned away with his arms crossed. Watching this, Link smiled hopefully as Po pumped his fist in victory. There was no way that Cheese was going to do something for a bad guy. As he saw this, Gengar nervously smiled, getting down from on the arm of the Skeleton King's throne.

"Stubborn, isn't he?" said the ghostly creature, trying to get away.

Before the purple being could get away, the Skeleton King's hand glowed an eerie green. Just then, the robotic figure grabbed Gengar by the throat with his glowing hand and started choking him. After two seconds of strangling him, the Skeleton King finally released his grip on Gengar, dropping the latter to the floor.

"Wh- why, of course, Sire. I'll take care of it at once!" Gengar said nervously, walking over to Cheese, before speaking to him angrily, "The Black Cauldron! Show it to us! Now!"

At "Show", Gengar shoved Cheese's face into the water-filled bowl. Once the ghost being let go of the poor chao, the latter sat up, standing for breath. But all of a sudden, he looked fearful when he saw Gengar pick up a hot coal with a pair of tongs as he approached Cheese with them. They were gonna get a vision, one way or another.

"I'm warning you. You don't want to keep the King impatient."

Link and Po looked horrified at what was going on; Gengar was going to burn poor Cheese! Before they could say anything, Link began to lose his footing. He started flailing his arms around like a windmill. The green-clad boy grabbed Po by the scruff of his arm in an attempt to keep his balance, but the two ended up falling into the Grand Hall with screams. The first to land was Po, but he ended up landing on his derriere, and Link ended up landing on the monochrome-colored bear's huge belly.

"Huh. I guess being fat has its advantages." Said Po with a smile.

Their relief had quickly disappeared when they saw a few of the Skeleton King's minions running at them. Both friends quickly got up and ran towards a wall. Once there, Po got into a Kung Fu battle ready stance while Link picked up something, and held it up, pointing it at one of the Skeleton King's minions, Sweeney Todd.

"Stand back! Or else I'll cut you to ribbons!" snapped the blond boy as he glared at the Demon Barber as he held… a broom.

Of course, Todd rolled his eyes, then opened up a barber's razor and slashed at the broom. As this happened, Link closed his eyes, and opened them again to see the broom cut in half, leaving him with just a stick. Link gulped with fear at this before he found himself gripped by the shirt by Sweeney. Meanwhile, Po glared at a metallic ghost named Skullker.

"You think you're tough? Well, get ready to feel the thunder!" Po said as he did a little exercise, puzzling Skullker. "Whatcha gonna do about crazy feet? I'm a blur, I'm a blur! You've never seen bear style of Kung fu!"

"Just hit him, Po!" Link shouted.

Nodding, the panda threw a punch at Skullker in the chest. But his punch didn't do much except for hurt his own hand. Po yelped as he held his hand in pain. That punch really hurt. Then, Skullker gave off an evil looking smile.

"That tickled. My turn." said the hunter ghost.

Before Po could see it coming, Skullker punched him really hard in the gut. If the attempt to punch the metallic ghost hurt, then this hurt even more. Po simply cried out in pain, holding his gut with his arms.

"Good punch…" said the poor bear painfully.

Link just sweatdropped at this, then looked nervously at Sweeney Todd before saying, "Look, man! I don't want any trouble! I don't even shave yet!"

"Nonsense. Everyone needs a good shave." Said the barber with a scary looking smile.

With that being said, Todd pulled his arm back, as if ready to slice the boy across the neck. Link simply closed his eyes tightly with fear. This was it; he was going to die. But before the barber could do his deed…

"Release those two! Bring them over here!"

Sweeney looked at Gengar- the one who spoke- with surprise. Link opened his eyes upon hearing that. With a scowl, the barber glared at the boy, then shoved him over next to Cheese. Skullker did pretty much the same to Po, except the former just kicked the latter in the behind, causing him to scurry over next to Link and Cheese. The green clad boy looked at the Chao and the two smiled before the former hugged the latter while petting him, while the panda looked up at the Skeleton King's throne with fear.

"It's okay, Cheese. I'm here." Said Link, comforting the scared Cheese.

"Uhh…. Link?" Po said nervously, tapping the boy on the shoulder.

Just as Link looked up at the Skeleton King, the robotic monarch said to them, "I can assume that you are the Chao's Keeper, Link. And you must be Panda Po. Am I right?"

The boy, bear and creature looked nervously at one another, before Link spoke up with fear in his voice, "Y- yes, Sir."

"Wait. How do you know our names?" Po asked the King.

"I know all that there is to know, Po," answered the Skeleton King with a sinister smile as he picked up his wine-filled goblet, "Now, if you don't mind, I would be happy if you would instruct your little friend to show me the whereabouts of the Black Cauldron."

Upon hearing that, Link looked fearful before looking defiant. "No way, you creep! I made a promise not to reveal it, and I'm not planning to break it anytime soon!

Everyone- save for the Skeleton King and Link- looked shocked at this. No one had ever spoke defiantly to the monarch. A few of the henchmen exchanged murmurs among each other. All of a sudden, the Skeleton King's smile turned into a nasty look as he started to grip his goblet tightly.

"If that is what you wish, then I guess the Chao has no use to me." He said calmly but angrily before gripping his goblet so tight that it shattered in his hands.

That didn't seem too good! Link, Po and Cheese looked horrified for they feared they knew what that meant. And then Gengar grabbed the Chao, and dragged him to a chopping block, placing his neck on it as the latter squealed in terror. Link and Po tried to go forward to stop this, but found themselves held back. Their eyes widened in horror to see a large masked being known as the Executioner standing by the block as it rose a huge dull axe that he held in his hands. When Cheese looked up at the axe, he squeaked in fear, and covered his head, bracing himself for the worst, when all of a sudden…

"**STOP!!!**" Link shouted, making the Executioner drop the axe, saving Cheese's life. The boy then looked at the Skeleton King with a look of defeat and he spoke, "You win. I'll make him tell you. Just don't kill him, please."

"Link, what are you doing?! We promised Shifu we wouldn't reveal the secret!" Po whispered to the boy in shock and disbelief.

"We don't have any other options."

The Skeleton King grinned at hearing what Link told him. "Much better. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

After that, Gengar dragged Cheese back over to the boy and the panda, saying, "Now, then, get on with the vision, Chao!"

And on "Chao", the ghost Pokémon shoved the poor butterfly-winged creature at the two friends, just as they had been released. Link looked to Cheese, then Po, who nodded nervously. With a nervous nod, the boy looked back at Cheese before putting a finger in the water-filled bowl.

"Cheese… from you, I do beseech… Knowledge that lies… Beyond my reach…" Link recited as he stirred the water with his finger, remembering exactly the same incantation Shifu had used earlier that day.

The stirring once again made Cheese dizzy, and he finally let his mouth rest in the water. As that happened, his eyes started glowing an eerie yellow once again like earlier in the day. Plus, the water itself started to glow as Link and Po looked over the bowl in awe, still wowed by his powers.

As he looked on, Gengar laughed giddily, "Look, Sire! It's working!"

Soon, the images in the water began to form a familiar giant kettle. "The Black Cauldron! So it _does_ exist!" exclaimed the Skeleton King as he looked on before getting up, slowly approaching the unaware Link. "Yes, where is it? Show me. Show me."

The only one to notice the robotic tyrant slowly approaching was Po. It was then that the panda yelled out, "LINK!! LOOK OUT!!"

Puzzled, the boy looked up behind himself immediately. What he saw when he spun around was a certain evil king reaching down as if to grab him! Link screamed in fright, and scrambled up and away from the Skeleton King, accidentally stepping on the bowl and causing the water to splash in the latter's face. The cybernetic skeleton screamed in agony, holding his face where he was splashed. Seeing this as their chance, Link picked Cheese up and began running with Po following them.

"C'mon, guys! Let's get out of here!" the green-clad boy cried.

"Right behind ya!" Po shouted as he ran with Link.

Spotting them running away, Gengar pointed towards them as he screamed, "AFTER THEM!!! DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!!!"

As if on cue, all of the Skeleton King's minions followed after Link, Po and Cheese. One particular minion, a Death Eater named Bellatrix LeStrange, pulled out her wand and shouted, "**AVADA KEDAVRA!!**"

Upon shouting those words, a green blast fired out of the witch's wand towards the three. Luckily, Link- still holding onto Cheese- and Po jumped up, narrowly dodging the Killing Curse. Snarling, Evil Shelby and Evil Jose flew in their direction, with their strength enough to break their perch from its base. As the two dragons flew after the trio, they knocked over a pot of burning coals, unintentionally starting a fire that stopped the henchmen.

While the henchmen had been cut off from catching up with Link, Po and Cheese, the trio still found themselves being chased by Evil Shelby and Evil Jose. Unluckily for Po, Evil Jose had managed to lunge his head forward, biting the panda on the butt.

"YEOWCH!" Po yelled in pain, before he glared at the male dragon and karate-chopped him on the nose.

The karate chop from the panda was enough to make Evil Jose roar in pain and let go of Po. But the dragons kept up with the chase on the trio, following them into a corridor. However, just as the two dragons had managed to catch up to them, their perch got stuck in the narrow entryway to the corridor, causing both Evil Shelby and Evil Jose to fall to the ground with grunts.

"I frickin' hate pandas." Evil Jose growled.

"Be thankful it wasn't the real Jose or Shelby." Evil Shelby added.

Meanwhile, Link, Po and Cheese had gotten farther down the corridor and stopped briefly to catch their breath. They took advantage of this moment to look behind them to see it the two evil dragons had followed them down the corridor. Confirming that they weren't being followed, the three let out a hefty sigh of relief, before Po rubbed his sore bottom where Evil Jose had bitten him.

"Ouch. That bite really hurt." Said the giant panda before taking out an ointment, and rubbing it where he had been bitten.

Just then, Link spotted a door across from them.

"Quick! In here!" he exclaimed, opening the door and running inside with Po following him.

Just as they entered the doorway, the three paused as they found themselves in some type of kitchen. The butcher in the kitchen, a Nobody named Lexaeus, spotted them right there. Looking nervous, Link, Po and Cheese – still held by Link-, began to go back out the door, but they stopped short when they saw a familiar ghost Pokémon flying at them as he laughed. Lexaeus took his huge butcher's knife and chucked it at the trio, just as they ducked in time.

"Gotcha, Chao Boy!" The purple creature cried with his wicked smile, lunging at the trio, only for the latter to duck.

This had caused Gengar to go flying into a barrel, which Po kicked towards Lexaeus. As the barrel rolled in the Nobody's direction, Gengar let out a scream before the barrel collided with Lexaeus, knocking the man and the Pokémon down to the floor.

Meanwhile, Link, Po and Cheese continued to run down the corridor for a way out. They soon came to an outdoor balcony, with Po propping the door shut with a thick wooden board. It probably wouldn't hold the barbarians/henchmen for too long, but hopefully it would be there long enough to allow the trio to escape.

Just then, Link looked over the side of the balcony to see the moat. This in turn gave him an idea as he looked at the others. "Guys, we've gotta jump into the moat! It's our only motive of escape!"

Po came over to the side and looked down, then back at the blond boy, "Are you crazy?! We could-!"

Before the large bear could even finish his sentence, he heard the sound of wood starting to break. He, Link and Cheese turned to the door to see it was starting to break a little. Looking panicked, Po looked at Link with a look of fear.

"Then again, your idea's the best!"

While the door was being broken down by the Skeleton King's henchmen, Link managed to toss Cheese upward, causing him to plummet towards the moat. However, before he could touch the water, the raindrop-shape headed creature flew off into the sky. He had made it; he was free! As soon as that was done, Link and Po jumped up onto the wall, ready to jump.

"Okay, on the count of three! One, two-!" The boy in green began.

Before they could even jump, however, the two found themselves surrounded by a dark purple aura. All of a sudden, they felt themselves being pulled back as if by magic. It was then that they saw a familiar ghost creature holding out his hand as it glowed purple while a few barbarians/henchmen stood there.

"Gotcha, Shorty and Fatty!" Gengar exclaimed, smiling his Chesire Cat grin.

Just then, walking through the broken door was none other than the Skeleton King, as Gengar came up to him, "I caught them, Your Majesty! I caught the boy and the panda!"

"Yes, but you let the Chao go. You imbecile." Said the Skeleton King, gripping the Pokémon by the throat as the former's hand glowed green again and the latter was choking.

"But- but- it wasn't my fault! It was the brat!" Gengar managed to say as he was choked.

The mechanical monarch dropped the ghostly creature, and then fixed his angry glare on Link and Po. He slowly started to approach the two as his staff glowed a dark red. If you think he was going to allow these two to let Cheese escape, then you'd have another thing coming to you. As the Skeleton King raised his staff, Link and Po braced themselves for the worst. But before the king could even strike them, the green-clad boy's Star of Light gave off a very bright glow. This was enough to make the Skeleton King scream in pain, causing him to back off.

As the boy looked over the charm, he smiled, "Wow. Shifu wasn't kidding when he said it'd protect me."

"Yeah. That is some charm." Po agreed.

The Skeleton King, on the other hand, growled as he glared in the two's direction, "If I can't kill them, I can keep them imprisoned.

"Throw those fools into the dungeon!!" he ordered angrily, pointing at the boy and the panda.

Upon hearing that, Link and Po looked shocked and horrified all at once. It seemed that the Skeleton King had given them a life sentence in jail. As the barbarians/henchmen surrounded the duo, they both pressed themselves against the wall behind them. Although they had freed Cheese, the boy and panda knew that the trouble was only beginning for them…

********************************

Whew! Finally, this chapter is done! XD However, things are looking bleak for both Link and Po. Will they ever save Narnia, or will the Skeleton King find the Black Cauldron? Stay tuned for the next chapter, though it'll be part one of a two-part chapter. Till then, R&R, but no flames.

As for those who don't know Giro, Diablor or Alpha are from, well, Giro comes from an anime movie called _Arashi No Yoru Ni_, Diablor is my friend, Neros Urameshi's, original character and made-up brother to Bowser and Alpha is a Doberman Pinscher from Disney and Pixar's _Up_.

Second, the bit where Po was getting ready to hit Skullker is a reference to the original _Kung Fu Panda_ movie, also suggested by a reviewer, which I can't remember his name. X(

Plus, the Executioner comes from the video game, Resident Evil 5.


	6. Out of the Dungeon

Hey again. Here's part 1 of the three-part escape from the castle, told entirely from Link's POV.

Now, then…. On with the show!

**Chapter 6**

**Out of the Dungeon…**

"_You must make sure he never uses Cheese to find the Black Cauldron."_

"_Po and I won't fail you."_

"_Look at me, Cheese! I can do it!"_

Those voices echoed through my head as I sat in the cold dungeon. Although the Star of Light's spell charm had saved me from the Skeleton King's wrath, I was now all alone in a dungeon cell. What made it worse on me was that Po had been locked up in a separate cell from me, and I wish he and I were in the same cell, so I could have him to help me become calm. Right now, I could not sleep and yet I really wanted to.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I picked up a nearby rock, and hit it against the plaster wall behind me. My little escape plan proved to be futile, and hitting the wall against the rock didn't make me feel any better.

"I can do it! I can do it!" I cried as I started to sob to myself.

This whole mess was all my fault. If I had kept an eye on Cheese when we were at the river, let alone kept my mouth shut, none of this would've happened. I wouldn't have to resort to almost revealing the location of that damned cauldron, Po wouldn't have almost gotten eaten, and he and I wouldn't be stuck here in the dungeon. Soon, however, I had successfully cried myself to sleep.

About an hour or two passed when I was sleeping in the dungeon. I was woken up by the sound of a moving stone, and I immediately sat up drowsily. When I looked to my left, I saw a stone in the floor open up. Out from the little passageway popped out a reddish-orange orb of light. I wanted to yelp in alarm, but I caught myself at the last moment. Next to come out of the hole was a chubby-looking Golden Retriever with a goofy smile on its face as he panted with his tongue sticking out. This left me curious as to why and how a dog was here in the dungeon.

However, I didn't have time to even ask when one more figure crawled out of the hole in the floor. My eyes widened in shock and disbelief when I saw what the figure looked like. It turned out to be a girl who looked my age. She had long blond hair that extended to her lower body, with eyes that were brown like mine. She was dressed in a pink dress with no sleeves and matching shoes, a red beaded necklace, a gold belt, white arm gloves and a type of sash with a strange symbol. From the look of the tiara she wore on her head, I immediately assumed that she was some type of princess. And she looked pretty gorgeous, to tell you the truth.

"Hmm. I'm sure I heard something in here," said the princess as she took one look around, before she saw me standing there. "Oh, hello there. Was that you?"

"Yeah!" I answered as the dog came up to me, and licked my face, making me laugh.

"Are you being held prisoner here? Because I am, too."

I nodded as I looked at the dog, "Yeah. By the way, I like your dog. He's pretty friendly."

"Oh, he's not my dog. But he did help me escape from my cell."

"I see. But still, he seems like a pretty nice dog. Sit, boy." I commanded him, and he obliged, sitting. "Whoa, he's trained! Shake." He obliged again, shaking my hand with his paw. "Okay, speak. "

"_Hi there!_"

Hearing this made me yelp and jump. "Did you just say "Hi there" without moving your lips?"

The dog looked at me with that silly grin of his, and somehow said, "_Oh, yes!_"

I looked at the princess with a questionable look while gesturing to the dog. Perhaps she might've known something about this canine. She just gave me a nervous look as she now spoke up.

"He's able to talk telepathically. That's how he's able to speak." Said the blond girl.

"Telepathically?" I repeated.

"It's when someone speaks to you through their mi-."

"I know what telepathy means."

The dog came up to me again, smiling, as he spoke telepathically, "_My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you!_"

"Nice to meet you, Dug. But… how are you able to speak through your mind?" I asked the dog- now known as Dug.

"_Oh, it is very simple. My master- the Skeleton King- put an enchantment on me. He is a good and smart master, and he put an enchantment on me so that I may talk._" Answered the chubby Golden Retriever while smiling. He suddenly looked to his left as he looked alerted, "_SQUIRREL!!_" He then looked back at me as he said, "_Sorry. I am a dog and I tend to do that a lot._"

A dog being able to talk due to an enchantment- that sounded pretty neat to me. But the only thing that made my heart sink from it was that it was the Skeleton King that placed the enchantment on him. After all the cruel stuff he might've done to many people, it left me wondering how someone so heartless could care for someone so adorable.

Before I could think of another thing, the orangish-red orb of light floated up to me. Feeling rather curious, I touched the ball and suddenly, it transformed into a totally different being that grinned at me. The figure revealed itself to be some kind of black and grey colored creature with green tattoos of some kind on her arms and legs. She was wearing some kind of helmet that covered her left eye and she also had long red hair with streaks of yellow in it. I was totally left speechless by this metamorphosis.

"Your bauble! I- it turned into some kind of creature!" I exclaimed in shock and surprise.

"Oh, that's Midna. She helps me get out of difficult situations," said the princess as she continued, "She can teleport me anywhere in the world."

"Can't she teleport us out of here?"

The female creature- Midna- shook her head sadly. "Sorry. No can do. The Skeleton King's put a spell on this place so no one can teleport away from here." All of a sudden, she did a double-take on me, then grinned devilishly. "But ya know, you look kinda cute."

Hearing this from someone not human sent a shiver up my spine. I could understand if it was someone back at Cambridge flirting with me, but I wasn't entirely sure about Midna taking a liking to me.

"Midna, that'll do." Said the pink-clad girl.

"Awww. I was just telling him what I thought. But okay." Midna said, floating over next to the girl.

While the black/green creature floated over to her, the princess just frowned as she looked around, "Oh, I do hate this place. I just hope there aren't any rats in here," She then looked like she said something offensive as she continued, "no offence to my daddy's main chef, Remy, though; but they do jump out every now and then." The princess then curtsied before me as she finished, "I am Princess Zelda, daughter of King Harkanian."

Smiling, I replied to the Princess Zelda, "Nice to meet you, Princess Zelda. My name's Link."

"Link… a nice name for a boy like you," Zelda said with a smile, "But I am curious. Are you a lord, or a warrior?"

I opened my mouth to reply to that question, but I stopped myself and closed my mouth as I looked hesitant. This girl was a princess, and I didn't want to disappoint her by telling the truth. However, I really didn't want to lie to her either. So I opened my mouth and finally responded to her question.

"Umm… no. I'm an Assistant Chao Keeper." I answered with a guilty look.

Zelda sighed in disappointment when I told her that, "Oh, what a pity. I was hoping that you might help me escape.

"Oh, well. If you'd like to come with me, Dug and Midna, then you can." She finished as she climbed into the hole.

"Really?" I asked with a smile, but then my mind got focused on Po, "Wait. I have a friend who's in a separate cell!"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure my Lady-in-waiting and friend, Tigress, must have found him by now. C'mon."

This was enough to get me to sigh in relief. At least I knew that my panda friend was possibly in good hands and safe with someone trustworthy. Hopefully, I would meet up with them by the time we got out of the castle. With those thoughts out of the way, I followed the princess, dog and strange being- the latter who temporarily changed back into a bauble as I went into the secret passageway with them.

"Hoo, that horrible, horrible King! You know that he stole me, just because I refused to marry him and he thought that Midna could tell him where some old Cauldron was." Zelda told me as I followed her through the dark passageway.

Old Cauldron? She must have been talking about the Black Cauldron, from what I could tell.

"That's what he wanted my Chao, Cheese, for!" I told the princess.

She only giggled at this. "Oh, yes. Your Chao. But how can a Chao help the Skeleton King find the Black Cauldron?"

"Simple. Cheese can tell the future."

"Interesting. Well, you'd better stick close with us, unless you want to get lost." Zelda told me as I followed her and her two companions.

All of a sudden, Dug charged forward down the passageway, and we hastily followed after him with Midna still lighting out way. We eventually came to a hole in the wall at the end of the passage. Dug stood by the hole as he smiled. Perhaps he was even more loyal than I thought he'd be.

"_Look, Princess! I have found a way out!" _the Golden Retriever said telepathically with that goofy smile of his.

Zelda, Midna- who reverted back to her creature state-, Dug and I looked through the hole to see what was on the other side. Inside, we saw what looked like an old tomb. It looked clustered with items of royalty, such as jewels, gold and any other useless junk. Sitting in the middle of the tomb was a huge stone sarcophagus with everything covered in cobwebs.

"This must be the tomb of the king who built this castle, before the Skeleton King took over the place." Zelda said in astonishment at the tomb.

All I could do was smirk at hearing that. Seemed like a perfect opportunity to "What, did the old king go into Real Estate?"

I only got questionable looks from the three. Maybe my joke wasn't as funny as I thought it'd be. Just as I got ready to say something else, I leaned unintentionally on the wall and it caved in, causing me to fall over. Shaking my head, I looked up at Zelda, Midna and Dug.

"You okay, Link?" Midna asked, looking a little concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I muttered, standing up as I dusted myself off.

"Well, c'mon. Help us look around." Zelda told me.

I nodded as the four of us each went around the tomb, looking for a way out. What got my attention was the sarcophagus in the middle of the room. As I walked towards it, I couldn't help but look intrigued. He must've been an amazing warrior. But when I looked on top of the structure, I frowned in disappointment because I was expecting a sword to be there, but all I saw was the imprint of a sword there. Someone must have been here and taken it. I then saw at my feet a bow with an arrow-filled quiver, a blue and silver metallic shield, a double clawshot and a strange looking boomerang.

"Well, at least they didn't take these." I mumbled as I picked up the items, unknowingly stepping on an out of place stone on the ground.

All of a sudden, the sarcophagus next to me slid over, as if by magic. Looking around, I looked at what the tomb had been covering; a staircase that seemed to go downward. Not sure of where it led, I traveled quickly down the dark passageway. Eventually, I came to a mystical looking temple-like room. But what really caught my attention was something in the middle of the room. I walked closer and found that it was a sword stuck in a stone. The sword had a nice steel blade with a sapphire hilt and a nice ruby in the middle.

I reached for the sword, but stepped back in hesitation. However, I knew that I would probably need the sword for protection, not that I already had a shield to block any attacks. A look of determination then came across my face and I stepped forward towards the sword in the stone. I reached my arms forward and grabbed the sword by the hilt with both hands. The minute I grabbed the hilt, I felt some type of power surge through me. With a mighty grunt, I pulled upward, surprisingly pulling the sword out of the stone. Seeing this, a proud smile found its way onto my face as I victoriously pointed the sword up towards the ceiling.

"There you are!"

When I heard that voice, it made me jump slightly. I spun around to see Midna floating by the entryway looking at me with annoyed look on her face. Maybe I shouldn't have wandered off from her, Zelda and Dug.

"Zelda told me to find you because she and Dug found a way out of the old tomb."

"Okay, I'm coming." I told her with a nod.

With that being said, Midna and I left the huge room. Before we left, though, I put my sword into a scabbard that I found nearby and I put the belt attached to it diagonally across my body. For some reason, I liked wearing it like that. Soon, Midna and I caught up with Zelda and Dug, who waited by a hole in the wall. On the other side of the hole was what looked like a huge corridor with a huge pair of wooden doors on one wall.

I wanted to say something to the princess, but I caught myself when I heard a voice speak up in the corridor. With a yelp, Zelda, Midna, Dug and I ducked behind the wall to make sure we would not get seen by whoever was coming. However, we managed to poke our heads out to see Gengar coming to the doors with a huge Minotaur following as the latter pulled what looked like a heavy cart, which was covered with a sheet for some reason.

"It's a good lot this time! For this, I'll finally get a lovely reward!" Gengar said with that creepy toothy smile on his face, which turned into a scowl as he faced the struggling Minotaur, whom got his cart stuck. "Don't stop, you weakling! Put some muscle into it!"

With a successful pull, the Minotaur got his cart unstuck and pulled it through the huge doors. But when the cart hit a bump on the way, a metal-gloved and bony arm fell out from underneath the sheet and dragged along with it. Just the sight of the bony arm made me feel queasy. Why would the Skeleton King need a bunch of dead soldiers? Unless…. He was meaning to find the Black Cauldron to resurrect an undead army!

Those thoughts disappeared when we looked back at the doors. Just as we did that, Gengar had just gone through the doors, pulling them shut. At the same time, Zelda looked back at me.

"We'd better get going. Who knows when they'll come back?" She told me and the others.

Midna, Dug and I nodded at this, and the four of us walked out of the hole into the wall. We walked slowly past the two huge doors, looking at them as we passed them. But then, we ran to the other end of the corridor, knowing that those bad guys would be back sooner or later. Before I knew it, Zelda and the others led me into a passageway. There, we looked back , then let out a sigh of relief as we didn't get caught by any of the Skeleton King's henchmen. All of a sudden, Zelda looked at me in surprise, but she was more focused on what I had on my back.

"Where did you get those weapons?" she asked me, pointing to my sword, shield, quiver, bow, clawshot and boomerang.

"Oh, um… back there." I sheepishly answered, pointing back in the direction of the tomb, "But it's not like he'll be needing them anytime soon."

Zelda just gave me a look of shock and disbelief, which soon faded into a look that I could tell that she didn't seem too fond of what I did. Before she could even reprimand me, however, she was cut short when we heard the sound of a dog barking. Following the barking was then the sound of a nasally voice speaking.

"C'mon! I'm not a spy! Please lemme go!"

"Lets go." Mina said, flying up a flight of stairs with me, Zelda and Dug following closely.

The four of us eventually reached the top of the stairs, where we found a door. We looked through the grates in the door's little window and we saw the wolf that barked at me and Po yesterday, Giro, glaring as a barbarian tied up a prisoner to the wall.

From what I could see of the prisoner, he looked like a short humanoid yellow and square sponge with green pores, blue eyes, eyelashes, freckles and two buck teeth. His outfit consisted of a white tunic, a white hat with a blue feather in it, brown and literally square pantaloons, a red cape and black shoes. Judging by the harp that hung from around his body, he must have been some type of minstrel.

"Please, Sir? You seem to be a smart guy," The sponge continued nervously to the barbarian, who looked puzzled by what the former said after the sponge minstrel was tied to the wall, "Honest! I was just passing by and didn't know anyone lived here!"

The sponge then looked at the growling Giro with a smile, "Aww! What a cute wolf! What's his name?"

All of a sudden, the wolf started barking at the sponge-like being like mad, making the latter scream in terror and back away. Eventually, Giro was dragged away out of the room as he glared at the sponge. As soon as the barbarian and wolf were gone, I looked at the others as I spoke to them.

"I dunno if we should just leave him here to rot." I said to them.

"Hold on." Said Zelda as she motioned her hands to the lock on the door and started to whisper something.

Before I could even ask what she was doing, a red burning orb formed in between the palms of her hands. With a swift move of her right hand, the orb hit the keyhole on told ohe door and burned it on impact. After that swift move, the door slightly opened, and I could see Midna smirk as she spoke.

"That's one way to take care of a lock," the stone hat wearing creature said proudly as we snuck into the room.

As we did so, I looked back as the sponge as he spoke unhappily to the guard that left, "Hey, this isn't fair! I'm gonna sing about yours and your King's mean deeds! I'm SpongeBob SquarePants! Minstrels of minstrels! Balladeer to the grandest courts in Narnia!"

Just then, something I didn't expect happened. One of the strings on the being's- whom I now knew as SpongeBob SquarePants- harp instantly snapped in two with a TWANG. This was enough to get his attention.

"Aw, c'mon. I did sing in some fine courts." TWANG! "Okay, fine! I'm just a fry cook, but am hoping to make it big someday!"

Once SpongeBob had said that, the two strings fixed themselves as if by magic. That had left me assuming that the harp would break a string for each lie, then repair itself once its owner spoke the truth. Then, the sponge's eyes widened in horror when he looked across from where he was, and I looked in that same direction to see the bones of another minstrel.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" SpongeBob cried out in terror.

All of a sudden, Zelda, Midna, Dug and I popped up out in front of him as the princess spoke, "Hello, there."

Hearing Zelda, SpongeBob yelped as he looked at us, before his look became a look of confusion. With a nod, I went over next to the blue-eyed creature and began to undo his binds with Dug helping me out.

"_Don't worry, Sir. We'll have you out of here in no time!"_ Dug said after he undid one of SpongeBob's bonds.

"Boy_, _you sure got yourself in trouble, huh?" Midna asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, if you want trouble, I think we're in a load of trouble, considering whose castle we're in." SpongeBob explained after I got the last restraint off of him.

With that being done, the five of us headed for the door. I didn't know about the others, but I was ready to get out of this hell hole. Zelda reached for the handle when a voice from outside the room stopped us.

"Chao Boy, the Fatty and the Kung Fu Leopard have escaped! Look in there!"

Hearing that made me gulp with fear. "Someone's noticed we got out!"

"That's you?!" SpongeBob asked me, flabbergasted.

"No time to waste! Let's go!" Zelda exclaimed, running out the other door with me, Dug, Midna and SpongeBob following close by.

We ran down hall ways and passage ways, avoiding running into any of the Skeleton King's cronies. The five of us eventually found ourselves running across a parapet when I tripped on a flagstone, sending myself tumbling into a ditch right next to the bridge. Standing up, I dusted myself off and almost climbed back up when I spotted some baddies coming my way. With a yelp, I ducked underneath the parapet, hoping I wouldn't be spotted.

Eventually, the noise of rampant footsteps had died down, and I had confirmed immediately that they were gone now. After looking around, I walked down the parapet in the direction where I was following the others in hopes to find them. I soon came to a pretty dark corridor, carefully looking around. But since I had a sword, bow, arrow, clawshot, boomerang and Silver Star crest to protect me from harm, there was no way I could get hurt. But still, from what I learned from Shifu, one could never be too careful.

"Hey, Princess Zelda? Midna? Dug? SpongeBob?" I called out quietly as I looked through the corridor.

I poked my head around the corner, just when I saw…

"Well, well! If it isn't the Chao Boy!"

I gasped in fright and backed into a wall when I saw who I bumped into. It was none other than one of the Skeleton King's henchmen; a large blue-skinned man with freaky looking teeth as he was clad in red and black robes. From what I could see of this guy, I could somehow tell that his name must have been Kisame. Suddenly, his scary smile shifted into a nasty frown as he slowly approached me while I reached for my sword on the sword on my back.

"You little scut!" He said nastily as he got ready to backhand me.

Just as I pulled my sword from its scabbard, I didn't even get a chance to get ready, because Kisame had successfully backhanded me. The blow was enough to send me sprawling to the floor and send the sword out of my hand and to the ground. Yelping, I took up my shield and blocked every blow the blue-skinned creep could try on me with his sword. Then, I looked over at the blue-hilted sword that lay on the floor and I knew. It was now or never!

With a determined glare, I shoved my shield on Kisame's sword, causing his weapon to get stuck in the wall. Now that he was distracted and focused on getting his weapon unstuck, I scrambled over to the sword and picked it up, putting my shield back on m, causing his weapon to get stuck in the wall. Now that he was distracted and focused on getting his weapon unstuck, I scrambled over to the sword and picked it up, putting my shield back on my back. At the same time, Kisame got his sword unstuck and glared at me, while I just glared back. With yells, we swung at each other. All of a sudden, as out swords collided with one another, something amazing happened!

The blade of my sword glowed with a teal aura, and what's more was that it completely shattered Kisame's sword to a million pieces. All he could do was stare at what was left of his weapon in alarm, then look back at me in worry as I pointed my sword at him and run off. I looked at the glowing sword in shock, then happiness as I grinned and happily swung the weapon around while laughing triumphantly. I couldn't believe it at all; the sword that I found in the tomb was actually a mystical sword!

"_I found him, Princess! I found Link!"_

Hearing that familiar goofy voice caused me to spin around. Approaching me were none other than Dug, Zelda and Midna, who looked pretty relieved to see me here.

"Are you all right?" Zelda asked me.

"You bet! Nice to see you're all right, too!" I responded with a smile, but that faded into a confused look to see we were one sponge short, "Hey, where's SpongeBob?"

"He must have went down the wrong passageway when we were running." Midna answered with an annoyed look on her face, "Dumb sponge."

I then grabbed Zelda by the hand and pulled her along as I ran down the hall, "C'mon, Princess! I'm gonna get you out of here!"

"_Wait for us, guys!_" Dug exclaimed as he hastily followed after us with Midna.

I couldn't believe how my day was turning out. Just when things seemed to be bad after Po and I were tossed into the dungeon, it seemed to get much better than I had hoped it would be. For starters, I met a princess and her companion and a goofy dog, then I found a magical sword and a few more weapons, and now, I was on my way to getting us out of the castle. Hopefully, I would meet up with Po, and even Tigress and this "Kung Fu Leopard" that the henchmen spoke of as we escaped for our freedom…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew! Another chapter done! This is only part 1 in a three-part chapter, which would be a pretty chapter with all three parts combined. And now, for some side notes.

For starters, Dug comes from Disney and Pixar's most recent and greatest film to date, _UP_. You've gotta see that movie if you haven't! It's really good! ;)

Second, I did the more traditional _Legend of Zelda _motive of Link finding the sword, because I like making references to some of the media the characters come from.

Third, if I made anyone OOC, I deeply apologize for doing so.

Now, then, till next chapter, which tells Po's side of escaping the dungeon, review away! But no flames are allowed!

And just to let you know, I will be going on vacation to Orlando, Florida on Thursday, and probably won't be online for the next few days during my vacation in Florida. All in all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And until next time, ciao! XD


	7. And Into the Fire

Hey, guys. It's been awhile, huh? Sorry for keeping you waiting. School's been a major pain in the neck, and I have been really busy with life. And it's great to get back to this story with Neros's help. :)

So, without much further delay, here's the escape from the castle, from Po's POV. ^_^

**Chapter 7**

… **And Into the Fire**

Man, today was not a good day for me. I was scratched in the belly by a clone of a friendly dragon, I was practically eaten by a crocodile, and now I was in a dungeon cell, separated from my best friend. And all because of some stupid old kettle the Skeleton King wanted to find. But, since I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life in this cell, I decided to make the best of it.

Sadly, I was having trouble falling asleep that night. For one thing, the rock ground was extremely uncomfortable, and I couldn't find the right position to sleep in. But what annoyed me the most was that no matter what position I was in, water kept leaking in the room from the ceiling and dripping on me, drop by drop. Fed up with all this, I growled in frustration, until something caught my eye in the darkness of the cell.

I couldn't tell what it was, but by squinting my eyes, I could tell that whatever it was, it was gray with dark brown spots on it. Along with it was something purple and brown. All that left me to assume that it was possibly a purple blanket with a gray cushion. I then smiled at realizing that, going over to the cushion. But just as I brought a paw to it….

"YAGH!"

The "cushion" came up and pinned me to the floor with one hand to my throat! Suddenly, I realized that the cushion was really a muscular anthro snow leopard with eyes the color of a hellfire and a light gray underbelly/chest. And the purple blanket was really his trousers that he wore, along with a brown sash. As the leopard held me down, he snarled at me.

"Be still, stranger! Or you'll never move again!" The leopard snarled in a deep British accent.

I couldn't do anything but look terrified. All of a sudden, I looked up at his face again, realizing something. It couldn't have been, could it?

"Tai Lung?.?" I asked upon recognizing him through his rugged and beaten form.

Upon hearing that, the leopard- Tai Lung- released his grip on me, "Po? What in Heaven's name are you doing here?.!"

"Long story short, my friend and I stormed the castle and busted our oracular Chao friend out," I said, standing up and recollecting my bearings, "What about you? Last time I saw you, you left the village on a crusade for the King."

"The Skeleton King's men overpowered us. They slaughtered many of my fellow soldiers, but they took me prisoner," Tai Lung explained with a frown, "For years, they've kept me in this cell and tortured me in many ways imaginable."

My face fell at the sound of that, "I'd hate to think what kinds of methods they pulled on ya."

"Believe me; you wouldn't even _want_ to know."

Deciding to change the subject, I got ready to speak up. But just then, the sound of a rock moving got our attention. Before I could speak up in alarm, Tai Lung shushed me by covering my mouth. What we saw was a stone moving out of place, revealing a passageway. Then, a small bulb of light flew out from the hole, much to our confusion. But all of a sudden, the "ball of light" spoke up in what I figured to be a Cajun type of accent.

"Hey, _chèrie_! You sure you heard somethin' in here?" asked the "ball" of light, "I don't see nuthin' in here!"

Just then, another being came out of the hole. From what Tai Lung and I could make of the figure, it looked like an anthro tigress wearing black pants and a red top. Suddenly, I felt my heart skip a beat as I gasped, realizing how amazingly radiant she looked. In a matter of seconds, my heart was pounding like crazy as I smiled goofily. I thought I was in love. And to tell you the truth, I was.

"I know I did, Ray." said the tigress, looking around as she and the "ball" were joined by a few more figures.

Two of them looked like frogs, one female and the other male. And the third looked like a pretty fat alligator with green scales and a yellow underbelly. What surprised me about the gator was that it was carrying a brass trumpet with its tail.

"Except with Ray, it is pretty dark in here." The male frog said.

I went over to talk with them, but just when I took two steps, I felt something snap under my foot. At the sound, I looked down to see I stepped on a bone. I looked back up to see the newcomers look towards me and Tai Lung.

"We can assume that was you two?" asked the tigress.

"Yeah, it was." Tai Lung replied as he followed me.

"Are you fellas being held prisoner here, too?" asked the female frog.

As the frog asked that question, the "ball of light" flew up to me, looking me over. Just then, I realized that it wasn't a firefly at all. Instead, it turned out to be some kind of firefly with chipped and crooked teeth and a few strands of red hair on his head.

"Umm... yeah." I replied, staring at the firefly with an uneasy look.

Of course, the firefly smiked as he spoke, "Eh, it's okay, Cap. I don't explode me. I ain't no firecracker! I just got my big _butt_ glowin'!" On 'butt', he spun around, practically shoving his lit-up butt right into my face before patting it with a cackle of delight, "That's right! Women like a man wit' a big back porch.

Shaking that off, I looked to the tigress, "So... what brings you guys down here?"

"We're being held against our will here, too," explained the tigress, "The Skeleton King captured me and my Mistress, Princess Zelda. But when she refused to marry him, she put us to work as servants."

"Princess Zelda marry the Skeleton King?.!" Tai Lung asked in disgust and outrage, "You've gotta be kidding!"

"You know Zelda?" I asked in surprise.

The snow leopard nodded to my question, "That's right. I served as her father's captain of the guard."

"Moving on, I'm Master Tigress," spoke Tigress, introducing herself and her friends as she gestured to them at their names, "These are mine and Zelda's companions; Naveen, Tiana, Raymond and Louis."

"It's nice to meet you," spoke the female frog, Tiana.

"And a privilege, too." The male frog- Naveen- added wth a smile.

The alligator- Louis- waved politely as he smiled, "How ya doin'?"

"My friends call me Ray." The firefly- Ray- spoke with a grin.

I looked at the animals with a smile. Just then, something baffled me at the two frogs speaking. So, out of curiosity, I knew now would be a good time to speak up with a question.

"Hey, just curious," I began with a confused look, "You two wouldn't happen to literally be humans stuck in the bodies of frogs, would you?"

"Why, yes! How'd ya know?" Tiana asked in surprise.

I shrugged at the question, "Lucky guess, I think."

"Well, now that you mention it," Naveen explained, "When we were brought here, the Skeleton King cursed me and Tiana, to be frogs for the rest of our days, unless we find a princess to kiss me."

Louis chuckled at that, "Good luck with it. Zelda said she doesn't kiss frogs."

"Anyways," I added, gesturing to Tai Lung, "You probably and obviously know Tai Lung. But my name's Panda Po. And before you ask, I'm not really a warrior or anything. But I could be, since Shifu's been training me."

"Hmm. Okay." Tigress said, crouching to crawl back into the hole, "Well, if you and Tai Lung want to come with us, you can."

At the sound of that, I smiled a wide grin. It was almost as if she had suggested that we could follow her and her friends.

"Really?" I asked with my smile.

"Really." Tigress replied.

All of a sudden, a shocking realization crossed my mind, "Hold on! I can't go anywhere without Link!"

"Who?" Tai Lung asked me with an arched eyebrow.

"He's a friend of mine. He got thrown into a separate cell from me and you!"

Tigress looked back, "Well, I can assume as we speak, Zelda found him and is about to get him out of his cell. Now c'mon."

"Right!" I nodded before I began following my newfound friends.

At one instant, when I was about to crawl into the hole, I found myself stuck and frowned. Maybe I should have gone on some sort of diet. Just then, Tai Lung helped to get me unstuck by pushing down on me through the hole. Luckily, he had gotten me out. A while later, we were all walking the passageway, which was extremely dark, even with Ray's butt lighting the way.

"You know, Po, I'm glad you and Tai Lung are here with us," said Tigress before she joked, "And I'm glad you're not Winnie the Pooh."

I raised an eyebrow at that, "Winnie the who?"

"Never mind," chuckled Tigress.

Changing the subject, I looked at Louis, "So, Louis... why do you carry that trumpet around with you?"

"What, Giselle?" Louis asked with a smile.

"Umm... what?"

"That's what I call my trumpet, Giselle."

"Oh!" I spoke in realization, understanding what he meant, "Well, can you play that horn?"

As if to answer that question, the overweight gator brought the trumpet to his mouth. Suddenly, he played a few jazz-like notes and very good ones, too. Thus, I came to understand that he was an excellent trumpet player.

"That answer your question?" Louis asked me with a smirk.

Eventually, we came to an opening at the end of the passageway. As we went through the opening, we soon found ourselves in what looked like a burial chamber. Scattered all over the place were jewels, flags and all that jazz. In the middle of the chamber was what looked like some kind of sarcophagus.

"What is this place?" I asked aloud as we looked around.

"Some kinda chamber." Tai Lung remarked while looking around.

"Let's look around," Tiana said, hopping around, "There's gotta be a way out of here."

With nods and murmurs, we all split up and searched the entire tomb for a way out. I looked to the sarcophagus with interest and curiosity before I approached it. Whoever was buried in that old thing must have been pretty important enough to get a tomb all to himself. Just then, I spotted something atop the old coffin. I looked closer and closer, coming to realize it was some type of sword with a gold hilt. Seeing this made me grin in amazement, until a voice spoke up, echoing through the chamber, startling me.

"Look, Princess! I have found a way out!"

Knowing I had no time to waste, I looked around to see if anyone was nearby. I then looked back to the sword and pulled with all my might until I successfully pulled it clean off. At the same time, a type of container fell from off of the sword's scabbard. Not thinking twice, I picked up the container and followed Tigress, Tai Lung, Tiana, Naveen, Louis and Ray out of the chamber and into another passageway.

Eventually, we all came out into what looked like a corridor. Before we could sigh with relief, we all heard the sound of a heavy cart rolling our way. I looked down the hall to see a minotaur pulling a cloth-covered cart being led by a certain stupid little ghost Pokemon.

"Hide!" I exclaimed quietly.

With that, we all ducked into another corridor. Once we all were in the corridor, I leaned near the doorway we entered through and unsheathed the sword I took from the tomb and used it as a mirror to see what was going on. In the reflection, Gengar was opening the big doors as he spoke.

"It's a good lot this time! For this, I'll finally get a lovely reward!" spoke the pokemon with a Cheshire Cat-like grin.

All of a sudden, I realized I was looking at the sword's blade for the first time. To tell you the truth, it looked somewhat like a sword and a dagger sharing the same hilt. Engraved in the sword's blade was what looked like an emerald dragon. For a sword, it looked very extraordinary.

"What's that?" Tiana asked quietly while noticing something behind Gengar.

That question and the sound of metallic armor touching the ground got my attention. Looking back into the sword's reflection, I saw the cart being pulled into the doors. What really caught my attention was a bony arm covered in a metallic glove. If I had any other color in my face besides white, it would have faded in an instant.

For a brief moment, in the reflection, I thought I saw something in it. All I know that I was in it was Link, along with a princess, a strange-looking girl and a golden retriever looking out from the passageway we exited from to get out of the tomb. Shaking it off, I put my newfound sword away and started down another passageway.

"We'd better get going. They'll be back soon." I said to the others.

"Got it." Louis nodded.

We soon found ourselves coming down the next hallway. For a brief moment, we weren't looking where we were going. All of a sudden, I walked face first into something. From what we saw, it was a male tiger, except unlike Tigress, he was yellow with black stripes, a light yellow underbelly and had dark purple rings around his yellow eyes. And, like Tai Lung, he looked pretty muscular. I suddenly came to realize he was one of the Skeleton King's goons, Dagnino. All I knew about him was that he was a corrupted tiger who had a lust for blood, sometimes literally.

Smiling nervously, I waved to him, "Hi."

"You!" Dagnino shouted, recognizing me.

"We should run, shouldn't we?" Ray asked aloud.

"Yes. You should." The male tiger simply replied with a scary smile, unclenching a fist as he unsheathed his claws.

With that, Tigress, Tai Lung, Tiana, Naveen, Louis, Ray and I took off down another hallway. As we ran away, I could faintly hear Dagnino yell, "Chao Boy, the Fatty and the Kung Fu Leopard have escaped! Look in there!"

"Split up!" Tai Lung shouted, going down a different hallway.

Not needing to be told twice, we all rushed down separate hallways. After running down the hallway I took, I ran across a bridge above a chasm. For a brief moment, I stopped upon seeing Link running across a bridge below the one I was on. With him were the princess, strange creature and dog from before, along with a humanoid sponge dressed to look like some kind of bard. The sight of the sponge left me totally puzzled. Since when do sponges dress up as bards?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shouting coming my way. Taking this as my cue to run again, I continued across the bridge until I came to another corridor and ducked into a nearby doorway. Once inside, I shut the door behind me and listened to the Skeleton King's goons run by, waiting till the coast was clear. As I waited, I opened the canister I found in the tomb and pulled out from it what looked like some type of golden scroll. Once I opened it, I looked at it to see...

Nothing. There was nothing written on the scroll. In fact, the only thing I saw on the scroll was a puzzled panda looking right at me. Of course, I came to realize that it was my reflection. Frowning, I put the scroll back into the container before putting that away.

After waiting to hear for the coast to be clear, I opened the door and left the room. Seeing that the coast was clear, I continued down the corridor, being as quiet and careful as possible. I soon turned a corner when suddenly...

"Aha! There you are!"

I screamed in fear as I backed away. Approaching me was what looked like a man dressed in some strange armor with a purple cape and claws on his metallic gloves. For some reason, I knew his name, and it was the Shredder. I also knew he was a pretty nasty enemy of a band of heroes known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ever since they crossed paths with one another.

"Now you're gonna die, you tub of lard!" The Shredder shouted.

Just as the armored man slashed at me, I took no second thoughts and took out my sword. In a swift move, I blocked the claws. Soon, it became a little sword fight, me versus the Shredder. Things were going fine for me when out of nowhere, my opponent knocked the sword from my hands, getting it lodged into a nearby wall. In a matter of seconds, I found myself dodging slash after slash until out of defense, I punched him in the face! Shredder recoiled in pain as I looked confused.

"Did I do that?" I asked myself in surprise before I smiled, "Maybe my lessons are finally paying off. Or it's that scroll I just read. Either way, time to put those kung fu skills to use!"

"I'll give you kung fu, all right, on your fatass face!" The Shredder growled before he charged towards me again.

Glaring, I got into a battle-ready stance, "Bring it on, Shredder!"

Soon, we got into a kung fu crazy. We kicked, punched and swiped at each other as the battle raged on. At one point, Shredder slashed at me, and I narrowly dodged the slash. Thinking fast, I grabbed his cape, then spun him around and using it as I dodged. Soon, I spun him fast, and gave him a butt bump, sending him crashing into a wall. After that was done, I picked up my sword, sheathed it and approached Shredder. From the looks of the masked man, he looked silly and dazed from the hit.

"You okay, Shreddy?" I asked him with a smirk.

"I'll take Charlie Weaver to block." Shredder responded stupidly and dazed.

This made me chuckle a little. I looked left and right to see if anyone was coming. Seeing as there wasn't anyone nearby, I ran off down the corridor. Later, as I ran, I bumped into six figures and screamed like a little girl. They were probably more goons!

"Please! Don't hurt me!.!.!" I cried in terror, bracing myself as I shut my eyes.

"Get a hold of yourself, Po!"

At the sound of that gruff British voice, I looked confused. Once I opened my eyes, I looked to see Tai Lung there, with Tigress, Tiana, Naveen, Ray and Louis. From the looks of them, they looked pretty puzzled. At seeing them, I chuckled to myself sheepishly.

"Sorry, guys." I apologized with a sheepish smile.

"What happened to you?" Tigress asked me.

"Well, I got into a bit of a scrap with Shredder, knocked him out cold, and I found you guys." I replied confidentally.

"Po!" A familiar voice exclaimed.

At the sound of that voice, the others and I turned to see four figures headed our way. I recognized the green-clad one as none other than Link. With him was a princess that looked his age, a creature with black and white markings- along with some type of stone hat- and a chubby-looking Golden Retriever that was smiling.

"Link! You're okay!" I exclaimed with joy, glad to see he wasn't hurt.

"Glad to see you too, Po." said Link as he hugged me like a little brother to an older one and I hugged back.

After breaking the hug, I looked to the others, "But who are these guys?"

"Zelda!" Tigress exclaimed on recognizing the princess with Link.

"Tigress! Tiana! Naveen! Louis! Ray!" The princess- whom I assumed was Zelda- exclaimed upon seeing her friends.

"Oh, so _you're_ Zelda." I spoke with a smirk, before I whispered to Link, "Nice, Link. You know how to pick 'em."

The boy blushed a little, as if he knew what I meant as he whispered, "Po, she's not my girlfriend. She's a girl and a friend, but she's _not_ my girlfriend!"

"Anyways," Zelda spoke up, causing us to look at her, "You know Tigress, Tai Lung, Tiana, Naveen, Louis and Ray." She then gestured to Midna, "This is one of my guardians and friends, Midna."

"What's up?" The female creature- Midna- greeted as she made a tomboyish pose.

Zelda then gestured to the Golden Retriever, "And this is Dug, a former guard dog of the Skeleton King's. If it weren't for him, Link, Midna and I wouldn't have found our way out of the dungeon."

"_Hi there!_" A voice spoke.

Puzzled, I looked around for the voice, "That was weird. Who said that?"

"Dug did," Link answered with an amused smile, gesturing to Dug.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Did the dog really say that? If he did and I had a hat, I would definitely eat it. Puzzled, I looked back at Dug.

"Did you _really_ say that?" I asked him.

"_Oh, yes! I definitely said that, Mr. Po!_" The Golden Retriever replied to me telepathically.

I looked to Link in confusion as he replied, "He's able to speak through telepathy, thanks to a certain tyrant."

"Oh! That makes a lot more sense!" I replied, nodding with a smile.

"Well, now that we're all aquainted, I say we get out of here, and quick!" Tai Lung said urgently, rushing down a corridor. "I expect that the Skeleton King's men will find us eventually. And I don't intend on standing around waiting!"

"Right!" Link said.

With that, we all followed after the leopard down the corridor. Hopefully, we'd find our way out of this castle, and find Cheese and get back to Cambridge. Hopefully, we'd be welcomed back as heroes. Of course, I was pretty sure we'd need to hopefully find the Black Cauldron before the Skeleton King did, even if it meant vanquishing him in the end. But I'll leave that for later.

…

And there's chapter 7 of _DBV's The Black Cauldron_. I hope you liked that one. ;)

As for a few pointers, Tai Lung will be playing the role of Gwydion, a character who was in _The Chronicles of Prydain_ book series, but was not included in the Disney movie.

You should all recognize what movies/cartoons/franchises, etc. that Tiana, Naveen, Louis, Ray and Shredder are from. As for Dagnino, he comes from an Argentine animated movie called _El Arca_, which- I think- does technically count as a Disney movie, since it was distributed under Buena Vista International, which is a branch of Disney.

Just for a head's up, I will continue this fanmake, with help from Neros Urameshi. However, due to classes starting again, not to mention winning a part in the college play- _Our Town… Attacked By Zombies_-, I won't be co-writing as frequently as I did with _The Great Dog Detective._ But nevertheless, I will do my best to get more chapters ready as soon as possible.

Next chapter, our heroes do their best to escape the castle. Can they do that and get out in one piece? Find out next time in _DBV's The Black Cauldron_!


	8. Escape From the Castle

Hey, guys. I guess you could say I was motivated into continuing this after reading KingHuffman's _Ash Ketchum and the Black Grail of Fire_. X)

If I'm lucky, I can get this continued alongside _DBV's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang _and _The Little Mer-Rockstar. _

Anyways, without further ado, here's the next chapter of _DBV's The Black Cauldron _AND the third and final part of the escape from the castle!

BTW, the uncut version of this chapter can be found on DeviantART, under my username, 389. The scene involves a deleted version of this mysterious figure's appearance and contains some pretty grisly violence.

Now, with that said, let's dive right in!

**Chapter 8**

**Escape from the Castle**

After the two groups had met up with one another, they made their escape down every hall they could, doing their best to avoid all of the Skeleton King's men at all costs. While everyone was happy to be reunited with each other, the only concern for them was getting out of the castle as soon as possible. However, by the time they reached the foot of a staircase, a voice called out.

"There they are!" called the voice.

Po frowned nervously, knowing the voice, "Aw, crap! It's Dagnino!"

"Quick! Up here!" Link exclaimed, pulling Zelda along with him up the staircase.

"Don't look now, guys!" Tai Lung said as he got in a fighting stance while glaring up the stairs.

Zelda looked up the stairs and screamed in fear, seeing a crony of the Skeleton King- Sleet- charge at them with a sword at the ready. Glaring, Link held up his sword just as the wolf swung his sword at him. But miraculously, the green-clad boy's sword glowed teal and shattered Sleet's sword, allowing the former to shove the latter down the steps and tumble into the other goons behind Link and his friends. Link, of course, just grinned at his sword while the others looked surprised. With his new weapon, the boy was invincible! Nothing could harm him!

"What the-?.!" Tigress exclaimed in shock, "It couldn't be!"

"Link! The sword!" Zelda spoke up in awe.

"AAAAAHHHH!.!.!.! Someone, HELP!.!.!"

"Huh?.!" Tai Lung asked as he looked up to the source of the voice

Link and the others looked up towards a balcony at the sound of the nasally voice. As it turned out, SpongeBob was running for his life from Giro, the wolf being hot on his trail. With a yelp, the humanoid sponge grabbed a rope and swung to another end of the balcony, but just as he did, Giro managed to hang onto him by the pants, literally!

"Well... at least we found him." Midna remarked with a shrug.

Shaking it off, the group continued up the stairs and down hall after hall, dodging swords, arrows and whatnot. At some points, Po used his kung fu and his sword, while Link, at times, had slain some of the henchmen with his sword, along with his bow and arrows. Eventually, they came to a store room filled with wine barrels, but just as they neared the entrance, Link paused, as if he had something in mind.

"You guys go, I'll catch up!" said the blond teen boy.

"Be careful, buddy!" Po said.

Link just nodded with a wink, and with that, the others went on their way. The boy turned in the opposite direction as his sword began to glow. Smirking, Link started stabbing numbers of holes into a few barrels, causing wine to pour out in waterfalls. Any minion that followed after the boy and his friends ended up slipping on the puddles caused by the wine in a silly fashion. Link only laughed as he left the room, shutting the door behind him as he went off to find the others.

…

A little later, Link was running down a hall, looking back every few seconds to make sure he wasn't being followed. Sure, he supposedly managed to kill the mysterious figure, but even that made him wonder if he even _did _defeat him. Soon, he managed to bump into a few familiar companions of his.

"Link! Are you all right?" Zelda asked, concerning the boy's slightly bruised look.

"Yeah, no problem," Link answered, looking behind himself nervously, "But we'd better keep going."

"Why's dat, Cap?" Ray asked, noticing how the boy in green seemed nervous.

Link just continued down the hall, taking Zelda by the hand, "Never mind that! Just come on!"

The princess yelled out as she was dragged along before she found herself running with the warrior.

"_Wait for us, small warrior!_" Dug exclaimed telepathically, running after Link and Zelda with the others following.

Soon, the group managed to make it into the courtyard of the castle. By now, the sun was rising over the horizon in the east, giving our heroes a good chance to make a go for it. Just as they were leaving, however, some of the Skeleton King's goons had managed to spot them and starting throwing their spears and firing their arrows at them.

"There they go!" shouted a pig-like goon named Pigsnout.

"Don't let them get away!" Another minion named Baron shouted, firing at the escaping good guys.

Despite all the arrows and weapons shot/thrown at them, Link and his friends managed to avoid getting hurt as they made their way for an exit. This was it; they were gonna get out of the castle! However, their little victory thoughts were cut short when they bumped into some of the Skeleton King's henchmen, a group headed by a familiar Pokémon wearing a Cheshire Cat-like grin, only he was scowling instead.

"Link!" Zelda exclaimed in fear.

"There they are!" Gengar shouted, pointing to Link and his friends, "Don't let them get away!"

"Run!" Naveen exclaimed as the good guys turned to run off.

Unfortunately for them, the group found more guards in the way.

"Oh, damn it!" Tigress exclaimed as she skidded to a stop.

With a nervous yelp, Link ran off with the others following him again as the guards were in pursuit of them. Eventually, they found themselves heading for the drawbridge, just as Gengar and the Skeleton King's army continued going after them. This was it for sure. Link and his friends, old and new, just had to go across the drawbridge and they were home free. Much to their shock, however, by the time they did reach the drawbridge, they found the bridge was folded upward.

"Aww, crap! We're trapped!" Po snapped with a frown.

Zelda just looked at Link in disbelief, "You couldn't have made sure the drawbridge was open, Link?.!"

"Well, excuuuse me, _Princess_!" The green-clad boy remarked in annoyance, "It's not like I didn't know it wouldn't be lowered!"

"C'mon! Get them!" Gengar shouted, getting the attention of the good guys.

"Oh no! Link!" Zelda cried out in worry.

Louis rung his tail in worry, "We're trapped! Trapped like rats!"

Link and Po held their swords at the ready, yet they looked completely nervous. Even though the boy had a magical sword that could destroy any material and the panda had more kung fu skills than you could shake a stick at, they both wondered if it would be enough to take on the Skeleton King's army as they approached them. But surely, whatever skills they had, they could hold off as many of the goons as they could.

"We gotcha now, Chao Boy!" Gengar said with an evil grin on his face as he ran towards the heroes.

With a growl, one of the Skeleton King's henchmen, a Turogian named Leroy, threw an axe at the good guys. Zelda yelped in alarm as the axe barely missed her, getting logged into the drawbridge next to her. She was able to survive it, but if she had been any closer, well, let's just say that she would probably be missing an arm.

"Link, don't just stand there like a jackass," Midna shouted to Link as they avoided being hit by projectile weapons, "Do something!.!.!"

Dodging an arrow, Link asked, "Me? What do you want _me _to do?.!"

Tai Lung, having barely dodged a spear, hit another projectile spear. He then hit it back towards one of the guards, who barely dodged it in time. The kung fu leopard only grinned at his amazing skills. He then looked towards the sword in Link's hands, then to the chain next to the drawbridge and got an idea. If that thing could destroy any material...

"Well, you can start by destroying that chain with that sword of yours!" Tai Lung suggested, hitting back another spear.

Confused by the leopard's suggestion, the boy turned to see a chain next to him. Getting the idea that it might be the chain to the drawbridge, Link gripped the hilt of his sword and swung at the chain. In a blinding flash of light, the sword glowed as it destroyed the chain, much the the bad guys' surprise. Gengar only looked terrified at what had just happened. That boy couldn't have destroyed the chain like that, unless...

"MOVE IT!.!.! GET OUTTA MY WAY!.!.!"

"Spongebob!" Tiana exclaimed as she turned to the source of the familiar voice.

All of the bad guys turned around towards the voice. As it turned out, a familiar sponge bard was running towards the gate with a familiar scarred wolf giving chase. How he had managed to catch up with them, Link and the others didn't know, but that didn't matter at the moment. Gengar just staggered left and right a bit, hoping Spongebob wouldn't run into him.

"Alley-oop!" exclaimed the sponge, leaping over the Ghost Pokémon, who smiled a bit nervously before Giro leapt over him.

Just then, Giro managed to get Spongebob by the pants again, causing him to run slowly towards the gate. If you thought the wolf was going to let his prey get away, then you'd be sadly mistaken.

"Hey! Lemme go! Please!" Spongebob cried, struggling to run.

"Run, guys! Run!" Link shouted as soon as the drawbridge dropped down.

Just as the boy and his friends managed to make it through the gateway, a large gate started to fall in place, due to Pigsnout cutting the rope that held the gate up. Spongebob, still being held by the pants by Giro, struggled to make it to the gate, even if he had to literally drag Giro with him. As the gate came down faster towards him and the sponge, the wolf whined in worry, knowing that they might meet a pretty nasty end soon. However, Spongebob made it far enough for the gate to cut him loose from the wolf, making a hole in his pants in the process.

"Why didn't you say you had a magic sword?.!" Spongebob exclaimed, following his newfound companions down the hill and away from the castle.

Back in the castle's gates, Giro dragged himself to look up as he glared in the heroes' direction, panting heavily before he gave out an exhausted sigh as he collapsed.

…

Awhile later, Gengar slowly filed up a flight of stairs towards the Skeleton King's chambers. Throughout the day, he was blamed for the escape of Link, Po and their new friends. Dealing with the henchmen's blaming and name-calling was one thing, but the ghost-like Pokémon knew he'd be in even worse trouble with his master.

"I'll just say, it's wasn't my fault, yeah." Gengar mumbled to himself, but all of a sudden frowned in annoyance, "Why do _I _always get the blame pinned on me? I'll just tell him, and if he gets mad..."

Gengar only groaned, before looking determined, "I'll just straighten him out! If he thinks I'm gonna get kicked around for this, then he's got another thing coming!"

By that time, the ghost Pokemon reached a door at the top of the stairs; the entrance to the Skeleton King's chambers. Wearing a scowl, Gengar pulled one hand into a fist and got ready to pound on the door. But just as he was about to bring his fist onto the door, he paused, and then lightly knocked on it before entering as he slowly peeked in.

"S-s-Sire?" He spoke nervously with his smile.

"You bring news of the Chao?" The Skeleton King asked Gengar with his back turned to him.

At the other end of the room, the Skeleton King was walking towards his throne. Noticing Gengar standing in the doorway, the cybernetic tyrant turned to face his minion. Surely, the latter had some news of Cheese's whereabouts. Gengar only gulped nervously as he twiddled his fingers.

"Erm... actually, no. This concerns the- um...- Chao Boy, Link, and his friend, Po." Gengar carried onto explain, the Skeleton King glaring at him impatiently, "You see... they've... es-es-escaped."

Hearing this news, the evil king gasped in shock and anger. Then, glaring deathly at the ghost Pokémon, he signaled to come to him, ready to strangle him as usual. Looking terrified by this, Gengar slowly slinked towards the Skeleton King, but just as he managed to get near his master...

"You summoned me, Master?"

The ghost Pokémon and the evil king looked at the door the former went through where the voice came from. Entering the room was a figure. It was a figure clad in a black leather suit, with a metallic helmet, leather boots, and gloves with knives at the fingertips. What would be most intriguing about him were the lightsaber hilts hanging from the figure's belt. Seeing the figure, the Skeleton King grinned menacingly.

"Ah, yes, Starkiller," said the king to the figure, as the latter removed his helmet.

After removing his helmet, the figure revealed itself to be a human man in his mid-twenties. He had a buzz cut hairstyle and dark brown eyes. Despite his calm appearance, the man- now known as Starkiller- looked very intimidating due to the scar over his right eye. Ever since he had been taken into the Skeleton King's care as a child, the latter had trained Starkiller to be a coldblooded killer and assassin to anyone who stood in the king's way.

"Have you any insight on the boy's escape from this castle?" The Skeleton King demanded of his apprentice.

Starkiller only nodded, "Yes, Master. We had found that the prisoners had escaped through a secret tunnel that had led to the king's burial chambers. What's more is that we had found some artifacts in the chamber were missing, such as the Master Sword from the secret chamber.

"Dagnino had informed me firsthand of the prisoners' escape once he had encountered the boy's pudgy panda companion and his friends. I tried to subdue the boy when I encountered him, but he killed my companions and defeated me before anything could be done. Of course, there's the still the matter of them escaping."

As he finished explaining, the cold-hearted assassin glanced at Gengar, who sweatdropped from the looks he was getting from not only Starkiller, but the Skeleton King as well. He somehow knew that the Sith would also blame him for Link's escape, and was expecting a severe punishment.

"Oh, allow me!" Gengar exclaimed as he proceeded to strangle himself, "Is that good- e-e-e-enough?.!"

"The Master Sword, you say?" The Skeleton King asked Starkiller, as Gengar stopped choking himself, "That could only mean one thing..."

"What about it?" Starkiller inquired with an arched eyebrow.

The robotic/skeletal king groaned, "Only those in the royal bloodline can wield that sword, and with that sword, they could ensure my demise. That can only mean Link is the son of King Phillip, son of this castle's former king, Hyperion, and Queen Aurora, whom had managed to escape my wrath."

All of a sudden, an evil thought crossed the Skeleton King's mind as he smiled cruelly. If the royal family of Narnia was still alive, as was Link, that could mean he could still have a chance at doing away with them. Revenge would finally be fulfilled at last for what they did to him. Chuckling wickedly, he picked up his staff.

"But if fate is on my side, I can finally fulfill my revenge," proclaimed the Skeleton King as he stood and music began to play, "Link will find his Chao, and, if possible, he'll find the Black Cauldron. With it, I can harness its powers to raise my army of Hell, and the last of the royal bloodline shall DIE!.!.!.!"

"Yes!.!" Starkiller hissed in agreement with an evil grin.

All of a sudden, lightning fired from the Skeleton King's staff right at Gengar. With a yelp, the dark purple creature leapt out of the way to avoid being hit by the bolt, just as the Skeleton King began to sing.

Skeleton King: _**In the dark of the night**___

___**I was tossing and turning...**___

__Just then, much to Gengar's alarm, a few Shadow, Neo-Shadow and Soldier Heartless appeared out of shrouds of smoke.

_**And the nightmare I had**_

_**Was as bad as can be**_

__Gengar just gulped at the Heartless surrounded him as they glared, and more Heartless appeared to join in on the song.

Skeleton King: _**It scared me out of my wits!**___

___**A corpse falling to bits!**___

___**Then I opened my eyes and the nightmare was me!**___

__Grinning, the Skeleton King came up to a table, slamming his staff on it as he created a vision. As that happened, three Large Body Heartless had appeared as the Skeleton King continued.

_**I was once the most mystical man in all Narnia  
**_  
Large Body Heartless: _**Oooh, ahhh, oooh  
**_  
Skeleton King: _**When the royals betrayed me,**_

_**They made a mistake  
**_  
Large Body Heartless: _**Oooh, ahhh, oooh**_

Soon, the smoke formed an image. The image portrayed two cloaked figures riding on the back of a horse, one figure in a dark red cloak and the other in a dark blue cloak, the latter holding a bundle in its arms. The image then showed Link and his friends making their way down a path.

Skeleton King: _**My curse made each of them pay**___

___**But two royals and a brat got away**___

___**Little Link, beware!**___

___**The Skeleton King's awake!**___

__Just as the Skeleton King picked up his staff, the smoke dissipated almost instantly. Soon, in no time at all, the Heartless that appeared started to do a step-march type of dance. At one point, two Sky Pirate and two Soldier Heartless each held Gengar by a limb, swinging him a bit.

Heartless: _**In the dark of the night,**___

___**Evil will find him**___

___**In the dark of the night, **___

___**Just before dawn...**___

__Soon, the Skeleton King approached what looked like a chart table as he sang.

Skeleton King: _**Revenge will be sweet**___

___**When the curse is complete**___

__Heartless: _**In the dark of the night**___

__Skeleton King: _**He'll be GONE!.!.!**___

__Meanwhile, Gengar was following two Fortuneteller Heartless as the latter two vocalized in hauntingly beautiful voices.

"Hey, ladies. How are ya?" asked the ghost Pokémon, grinning seductively.

Skeleton King: _**I can feel that my powers are slowly returning**_

_**Tie my sash and a dash of cologne for that smell!**_

Soon, the Skeleton King lay a few figurines on the charted table. These figurines looked exactly like Link, Zelda, Po, Tigress, Tai Lung, Dug, Midna, Tiana, Naveen, Louis, Ray and Spongebob. He then laid a figurine version of himself on a podium on the table. Looking down on the figurines, the robotic skeleton wickedly smile, which eventually turned into a scowl.

Skeleton King: _**As the pieces fall into place,**_

_**I'll see them crawl into place!**_

Suddenly, the Skeleton King made his staff glow with contempt. With one swift move, he whacked the figurine versions of Link and his friends off of the table and into a wall, on which they broke upon impact into a million pieces. In no time at all, the remains started to burn due to the Skeleton King's magic, as he wickedly smiled.

_**Goodbye, Link and good friends**___

___**Farewell!**___

__Soon, he descended a flight of stairs with Gengar and Starkiller following after him. As the three went down the stairs, they were followed by a few Heartless as others began to sing.

Chorus: _**In the dark of the night,**_

_**Terror will strike him  
**_  
Skeleton King: _**Terror's the least I can do!  
**_  
Chorus: _**In the dark of the night,**_

_**Evil will brew**_

__As he walked down the steps, the Skeleton King picked up a trio of Shadow Heartless.

Skeleton King: _Soon he will feel ___

___That his nightmares are real___

__Chorus: _In the dark of the night__**  
**_  
Skeleton King: _He'll be through!___

__On 'through', the cybernetic tyrant threw the Shadow Heartless into the air, making them squeal in terror.

Chorus: _**In the dark of the night,**_

_**Evil will find him**_

Starkiller: _**Find him!**___

__Meanwhile, a Bad Dog Heartless growled at Gengar, following the Ghost Pokemon. Glaring at the Heartless, Gengar just growled back in a much nastier way, while making a scary face. This, in turn, made the dog-like Heartless run away, yelping in fear as Gengar simply smirked in satisfaction.

Chorus: _**In the dark of the night, **___

___**Terror comes true**___

__Starkiller: _**Doom him!**_

Skeleton King: _**My dear, here's a sign!  
**_  
Skeleton King, Starkiller and Chorus: _**It's the end of the line!**_

__Soon, the Skeleton King waved a hand over his staff as black and purple smoke billowed from it, while his army stood at attention. During the build-up in the chorus, Starkiller activated his lightsaber and cut Evil Shelby and Evil Jose free of their chains.

Chorus: _**In the dark of the night**___

___**In the dark of the night**___

__As the Skeleton King sang, Wyvern, Gargoyle and Search Ghost Heartless flew out of the smoke that emitted from his staff. Soon, the evil lord's army of warriors, barbarians and Heartless stood at the ready in the courtyard as the Skeleton King and Gengar watched from a balcony. Starkiller, with his helmet on, sat mounted on the back of a black horse as it reared.

Skeleton King: _**Come, my minions!**_

_**Rise for your master!**_

_**Let your evil shine!  
**_  
Chorus: _**In the dark of the night**_

_**In the dark of the night**_

__Skeleton King: _**Find them now, yes**__**  
**_  
_**Run ever faster!**___

__Chorus: _**In the dark of the night**___

___**In the dark of the night**___

___**In the dark of the night**___

__Skeleton King: _**He'll be mine!.!.!.!**___

__As he watched his army go after Link and his friends, the Skeleton King laughed evilly while Gengar rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Perhaps if Link and his friends were any use to him, they could find Cheese and, if they were lucky, the Black Cauldron. Only then, would all of Narnia belong to the Skeleton King.

…

Well, there's chapter 8. What did you think?

Link: Well, I like it. Though wasn't Starkiller a good guy in _Star Wars: The Force Unleashed_?

Me: Yeah, about that. I was inspired by Xemnas1992 and AilemaDragonPrincess's version of the movie.

Tai Lung: I can see that from the looks of the song you added from that one Don Bluth film.

Me: Right, thanks, Tai Lung. Now, then…

Like I said, the uncut version on DeviantART includes an alternate intro of Starkiller AND a pretty gruesome fight scene.

The song 'In the Dark of the Night' comes from Don Bluth's awesome movie- even if it is a Disney knockoff, it was an awesome one!-, _Anastasia._

Anyways, next chapter will be a bit more original and feature another song from _Anastasia_, in which Link will learn a little secret about his past. But till then…

Me, Link and Tai Lung: See ya!


End file.
